ABSTRACT
This chapter presents the theoretical argument developed in the manuscript in a comprehensive way, covering the main debates in the literature about the factors that affect judicial stability of the justices on the bench. In doing so, it disentangles the main research hypotheses within the literature, that in some cases have been not clearly outlined. Based on that review, the chapter presents the theory of forced retirements along with the research hypotheses that are tested in the following chapters. This theory provides a unified framework for bringing together the preferences and incentives of executives for crafting a supporting court with the different strategies employed by the executives for forcing the retirement of certain justices from the bench. Specifically, the chapter examines how executives can trigger institutional and non-institutional strategies so as to obtain a friendly court.
