„Demokracja jacksonowska” a zmiana podstawy legitymizacji władzy sądowniczej w USA
“Jacksonian democracy” and the changes of the bases of legitimization for the state judiciary in the US

Summary/Abstract: The article discusses the issue of changes of the bases of legitimization for the state judiciary in the US during the so-called “Jacksonian Democracy”, i.e., the period from 1829 (the beginning of the presidency of Andrew Jackson) until the outbreak of the Civil War. During this period on the wave of the democratization process of public institutions in the US, popular elections were introduced to select judges at the state level. The reason for the introduced institution was the willingness of legal environments to make judges independent from the world of politics, as well as strengthening their social authority and a political position in a political system. The result of popular election of judges was a change in the narrative legitimizing their power from a meritocratic to democratic. The author formulates the thesis that contrary to the common beliefs of the contemporary legal mainstream, the backrest (even partial) of the legitimacy of the judicial power on democratic base does not have to result in a decline in its authority and the dependence on the world of politics, and on the contrary, it can bring the strengthening its social recognition, an example of which was the period of “Jacksonian Democracy” in the US.

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