ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an overview of the judge as administrator, and examines how the role has evolved. Alternative means of exercising managerial authority are discussed, along with certain obstacles to effective administration. In essence, court managers have been superimposed upon the traditional power relationship within the courthouse. Given the continuing importance of these traditional managers in judicial organizations, their functions, traits, and administrative proclivities are crucial to an understanding of the contemporary realities of court management. Judges typically controlled courtroom procedures, while court clerks often exercised constitutional authority over the "housekeeping functions" of the judicial system. According to Chief Justice William Howard Taft, historically each judge has "paddled his own canoe" under a "go-as-you-please" system in administering his or her court. Presiding judges cannot simply dictate policy to their subordinates. Judges do not ordinarily acquire administrative ability or training in law school or from the practice of their profession.
