It is no longer enough for informed citizens to support the passage of laws that reflect their policy preferences. They must now also pay attention to the process by which judges are nominated and confirmed to ensure that those policy preferences are executed faithfully. While other executive and legislative enactments can be reversed, judges receive lifetime appointments. The decision to appoint or confirm a federal judge may shape policy for decades.

As the role of the courts grows, so do nominations controversies; the President and the Senate become partners in the process

While the power of the federal judiciary to shape policy has been acknowledged for most of American history, the composition of the federal bench has become the subject of intense debate only in relatively recent times.