ABSTRACT
One of the most widely studied phenomena in judicial politics is the process of bargaining and opinion writing at the U.S. Supreme Court. This research is often concerned with how the institutional structures of the Supreme Court give rise to different patterns of interaction among the justices. For example, how does the rule that an opinion only has precedential value if endorsed by a majority of the justices affect the way in which different justices bargain with each other? How does the requirement that only four justices must agree to hear a case shape the way justices can pursue their policy goals? Does this affect their decisions about which cases they will agree to hear? It is on these types of dynamics that scholarship on collegiality has focused most intensely.
