Leadership and Consensus on the U.S. Supreme Court

For more than a century the members of the U.S. Supreme Court refrained from disagreeing with their brethren through written opinions. The Court exhibited a norm, or behavioral expectation, that limited the formal expression of conflict. Danelski's (1960) classic work on Court leadership suggests that high levels of consensus were due in large part to effective task and social leadership on the part of the chief justice. While Danelski and others have held Chief Justice Stone responsible for the transformation of the consensus norm in the twentieth century, the results of this analysis suggest that the leadership style of Chief Justice Hughes is critical to understanding the shift. Chief Justice Hughes precipitated a shift in the behavioral expectations among the justices, but the change was consolidated under the leadership of Chief Justice Stone. Other variables are explored to validate the prominent role of leadership in the decline of consensus.