Benjamin G. Engst

The Two Faces of Judicial Power: Dynamics of Judicial-Political Bargaining (Book)

Find the book for purchase here or — if available — via your university on Springer Link. SummaryThis book shows that constitutional courts exercise direct and indirect power on political branches through decision-making. The first face of judicial power is characterized by courts directing political actors to implement judicial decisions in specific ways. The second […]

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Temporal Strategies. Governments Alter the Pace of Legislation in Bicameralism Depending on Electoral Expectations

Find the Article here. AbstractDoes a government in a bicameral system strategically alter the length of the legislative process in the first chamber in anticipation of future majorities in the second chamber? Drawing on an existing formal model of dynamic policy-making, we argue that governing majorities strategically accelerate or delay their agenda when a potential

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Die Besetzung des Bundesverfassungsgerichts. Ein Spiegelbild gesellschaftlicher Präferenzen?

English TitleThe Composition of the German Federal Constitutional Court. Mirror Image of Societal Preferences? Find the Article here. AbstractWhich candidates do the German public want to be judges of the Federal Constitutional Court? Constitutional courts require public support. This support is also the result of the legitimacy of the politically elected judges. We argue that

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The Effect of Ultra-slow Velocities on Insertion Forces

Find the Article here. Abstract Objective:  The present study sought to 1) characterize insertion forces resulting from a flexible straight electrode array (EA) inserted at slow and ultra-slow insertion velocities, and 2) evaluate if ultra-slow velocities decrease insertion forces independent of other variables. Background: Low insertion forces are desirable in cochlear implant (CI) surgery to

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Reducing sound exposure during Ocular Vestibular Evoked Myogenic Potential Testing for Superior Semicircular Canal Dehiscence Syndrome

Find the Article here. Abstract Background:  Ocular vestibular evoked myogenic potentials (oVEMP) testing in response to air-conducted sound (ACS) has excellent sensitivity and specificity for superior semicircular canal dehiscence syndrome (SCDS). However, patients with SCDS may experience vertigo with the test, and recent works recommend minimizing acoustic energy during VEMP testing. Purpose:  To develop an oVEMP protocol

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Zum Einfluss der Parteinähe auf das Abstimmungsverhalten der Bundesverfassungsrichter

English TitleThe Influence of Party Identification on Judicial Votes at the German Federal Constitutional Court.A Quantitative Assessment. Find the Article here. Press Release by the University of Mannheim. AbstractÜber den Einfluss der Parteinähe der einzelnen Bundesverfassungsrichter auf die Gerichtsentscheidungenwird auch in der Rechtswissenschaft diskutiert – oder vielmehr spekuliert. Denn die Rechtswissenschaft verfügt nicht über eigene

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How to place non-majoritarian institutions and political actors in a common policy space: Spatial modeling of court–executive interactions

Find the working paper here. (Version: 12/2021) AbstractHow can we estimate positions of non-majoritarian institutions in a common policy space? To answer this question, we take highest courts as examples of powerful non-majoritarian institutions and develop a new scaling approach to estimate their position in a common policy space with other political actors. In contrast

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Citizens’ Commitment to Judicial Independence

Find the working paper here. (Version: 10/2021) AbstractIn contrast to the more common focus on judicial independence in relation to government institutions, we study under what conditions citizens are willing to trade democratic principles in favor of expected partisan gains? To disentangle this trade-off, we administered discrete choice experiments in surveys across nine European countries

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Zum Einfluss der öffentlichen Meinung auf Entscheidungen des Bundesverfassungsgerichts

English TitleThe Influence of Public Opinion on decisions of the Federal Constitutional Court.An Analysis of Abstract Judicial Reviews and Federal State Disputes 1974 – 2010 Find the Article here. AbstractIs the Federal Constitutional Court, as often depicted, a mostly independent actor in the German political system? The present analysis shows for the first time to

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Who reaches the Bench?

Find the working paper here. (Version: 11/2018) Abstract How do citizens evaluate judicial nominees for highest courts? Previous research solely based on the US Supreme Court points at two dimensions: judiciousness and the nominee’s partisan leaning. While these dimensions are not likely to be independent from one another the identification strategies previously applied are not

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