Battle over the bench [electronic resource] : senators, interest groups, and lower court confirmations / Amy Steigerwalt.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction : the changing tone of lower federal court confirmations -- What makes a nomination run into trouble? : Senators, Interest Groups, and the four tracks to confirmation -- Death to nominees : senatorial courtesy and the ability to "kill" judicial confirmations -- "Herding cats" : holds and private political fights -- Interest groups and judicial confirmation : a view from the Senate -- Interest groups and the decision to object : sending confirmations down the public partisan track -- Whither nominees? : the fate of nominations sent down the public partisan track -- Conclusion : what the future holds for lower court nominations and the Senate confirmation process -- Appendix A. : Data collection methodology -- Appendix B. : Variable descriptions and measurements for Tobit Regressions -- Appendix C. : Circuit Court nominations opposed by interest groups, 99th-109th Congresses (1985-2006).

Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, MI : ProQuest, 2015. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest affiliated libraries.