The United States’ Supreme Court is responsible for making some of the toughest and most influential decisions in the country each and every day. Very often, their decisions affect the many citizens of the nation, whether they are minor, or major. The Supreme Court makes many rulings each year, and many people do not even pay attention to the Court’s decisions. The majority of the population does not even think to question why the Justices vote the way they do, or how they arrive at the decisions they make. Many political scientists have tried to explain the voting behavior of the Justices in order to determine how they will vote. In my paper, I will take a look into theories behind why the Supreme Court Justices vote the way they do, and the many variables that factor into their decisions. My research question that I will investigate throughout this paper is: What factors play a role in how Supreme Court Justices vote, and does the political party that the Justice affiliates with alter their vote? This research is important because it can help the everyday citizen begin to understand how the highest court in their country votes, ultimately dictating their lives. Understanding the background and voting behaviors of the Justices will also help political scientists be able to make predictions on how certain decisions will come out. Researchers before me have posed questions regarding the factors that play a part in the decision making of the United States’ Supreme Court Justices. One of the first factors that prior researchers looked at was the background, or upbringing of the Justices. Researcher C. Neal Tate from North Texas State University acknowledged that, “Goldman and Sarat state that this consensus well (1978, p... ... middle of paper ... ...l Science Review, Vol. 83, No. 2 (Jun., 1989), pp. 557-565 Published by: American Political Science Association Article Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1962405 Tate, C. Neal. "Personal Attribute Models of the Voting Behavior of U.S. Supreme Court Justices: Liberalism in Civil Liberties and Economics Decisions, 1946-1978." The American Political Science Review 75.2 (1981): 355-67. JSTOR. Web. 23 Mar. 2014. . Tate, C. Neal and Roger Handberg “Time Binding and Theory Building in Personal Attribute Models of Supreme Court Voting Behavior, 1916-88” American Journal of Political Science, Vol. 35, No. 2 (May, 1991), pp. 460-480 Published by: Midwest Political Science Association Article DOI: 10.2307/2111371 Article Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2111371