An Examination of Judges in Israel and the United States

Abstract

The writer of this thesis studied the governments of Israel and the United States of America. They share a common means of choosing their political leaders. They are both democracies, in the sense that they hold elections to determine who will serve as a political leader (law makers and enforcers). This thesis compares and contrasts the method of choosing judges in Israel to that of Illinois, which is one of 50 states that make up the United States of America. Israel appoints their judges and Illinois elects their judges. Both approaches of determining who will serve as a judge have negative attributes. Israel’s approach suffers from members of the appointment committee favoring candidates who share their political views. Illinois’ approach suffers from the need to raise large amounts of money to finance judicial campaigns, which can lead to undue influence from donors.