Preface: democracy in court? : presidents and justices -- The Supreme Court's democracy gap and the erosion of legitimacy -- Part I. Constructing a historically distinct court : how the conservative quest for judicial success isolated the justices from majoritarian democracy. Numerical minority justices as a conservative majority; An electoral-confirmation connection and the historical rarity of a contested justice; How a resurgent Senate tamed the judicial desires of electorally dominant presidents; Polarized politics and the Court's legitimacy paradox -- Part II. Searching for wizards of the law : how the rise of the supreme elite further distanced the Court from the American people. How the redefinition of quality created a cookie-cutter court; Choosing right : how conservative efforts to eliminate ideological drift stifled Republican presidential choice; Democratic presidents and the avoidance of confirmation conflict; How the selection of unknown voices with different audiences transformed the Court into a judicial aristocracy -- Part III. Legitimacy on the campaign trail : can electoral success by judicially focused candidates reduce the Court's democracy gap? The Court issue and the presidential election of 2016; The "Kavanaugh effect" and the 2018 Senate elections; The never-ending promise of a conservative court and the 2020 presidential election -- Concluding section: Confronting detours and dead ends : liberal resistance and frustration in the age of conservative dominance on the Court. How a numerical minority rules the law and prevents progressive political change; Reducing the democracy gap at the coalface of constitutional politics

"Today's Supreme Court is unlike any other in American history. This is not just because of its jurisprudence. It is because today's Court is uniquely distanced from the democratic processes that buttress its legitimacy. For example, five of the nine justices took their seats after winning confirmation with the support of senators who won far fewer votes than their colleagues in opposition, and three of these five justices were also nominated by a president who lost the popular vote. In A Supreme Court Unlike Any Other, Kevin J. McMahon explains the broad historical developments that have brought us here. Drawing on historical and contemporary data and deep knowledge of Court battles during presidencies ranging from Franklin D. Roosevelt to Ronald Reagan to Donald Trump, he offers new insight into the shifting politics of nominating and confirming justices, the changing pool of nominees considered for the Supreme Court, and the increased salience of the Court in presidential and congressional elections. A Supreme Court Unlike Any Other is an eye-opening account of today's Court within the context of US history and the broader structure of contemporary politics"--