Strategic leadership and political change on the Canadian supreme court: Analyzing the transition to chief justice

This study discusses theoretical concepts from two strands of public law literature, namely rational choice accounts of strategic behaviour and notions of judicial leadership, and examines their relevance for explaining changes in judicial behaviour on the Canadian Supreme Court. Specifically, we test whether a justice who is elevated to the chief position strategically alters his/her patterns of judicial behaviour. The study uses a multiple regression equation that controls for rival hypotheses, and uncovers evidence of strategic change by all three modem chief justices. While Justices Dickson and Lamer appear to have consolidated their position as task leaders once they were promoted to the helm of the Court, Justice McLachlin made a remarkable change in her dissent behaviour to emerge as the preeminent social leader on her own Court. The study demonstrates that rational choice models of strategic behaviour and judicial leadership are useful theoretical frameworks for explaining changes in behaviour once recent Canadian justices were promoted to the chief position. Moreover, the findings illustrate the importance of incorporating critical institutional features when studying changing behaviour in other high courts around the world.