When Do Judges Decide to Disagree?

The paper will use a rich dataset from the Slovenian Constitutional Court to analyze when and why judges disagree or try to reach consensus. The dataset includes a full voting record of 27 judges that composed the Court in three different periods. Explanatory variables include professional background and career history of judges, their age and gender, political orientation of the parliamentary majority that appointed the judge, and revealed ideology of the judge based on a content analysis of a sample of his or her votes and separate opinions. For a sample of decisions, the variables on whether the court's ruling was in line or in disagreement with the legislative/executive opinion on the matter, and the extent to which the decision referred to international law, will also be taken into account.