What are the pros and cons of the merit appointment system of selecting judges? What are the pros and cons of the merit appointment system of...

Most
constitutional governments, including the United States' government, use three branches of
governmentthe legislative, executive, and judicialand rely on a system of checks and balances to
ensure that none of these branches gain too much power over the others. Because the branches
that are the most likely to gain an exorbitant amount of power and then to use that power for
political purposes are the executive branch and the legislative branch, democracies need to have
a judicial branch that is free from political pressures.

The existence of
this political pressure drives the list of the pros and cons of having a merit-based appointment
system for the judges on the judiciary.

The biggest pro of having a
merit-based system of appointment is simple: you get the best and most qualified judges sitting
on the bench. In theory, these judges would be the best equipped to deal with the complicated
questions of justice that judges see every day. Their knowledge of the law and how it
can...

href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/11pdf/11-393c3a2.pdf">https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/11pdf/11-393c3a2.pdf