ABSTRACT
This chapter develops a model to test whether the restrictions in state codes of conduct reduce the likelihood of challengers arising and whether they affect the incumbent's share of the vote. Given the importance of accountability to protecting the rule of law, an accounting of the effects of judicial codes of conduct would be incomplete without investigating the overall effect of these restrictions on the effectiveness of elections as accountability mechanisms. The chapter develops a model to test whether the restrictions in state codes of conduct reduce the likelihood of challengers arising and whether they affect the incumbent's share of the vote. The legal profession's skepticism of judicial elections developed right alongside its codification of model codes. Since the creation of codes of conduct, defenders of traditional conceptions of independence have identified elections as being in tension with judicial impartiality and have tried to limit their effects.
