My chosen research question (and explanation because I believe I am confusing…maybe research question needs re-worded or tweaked a little):

Question:
How tilted is the ideology of our Federal Justice system or is it overall balanced?

Explanation:

I believe the President bases his nominations of any federal judge a lot on the nominees political ideology. A President will never appoint all federal judges (around 800 or so), but during a term it’s not uncommon for a single President to nominate and appoint many judges. So, how is our current and historical judicial system composed? Mostly liberal, mostly conservative, or fairly balanced overall?

Hypothesis:

Our federal judicial system is made up of an overall balanced ideological standpoint. Since one president will never be tasked with appointing ALL judicial seats, since they hold lifetime appointments, then the re-elections, newly elected, and differing ideologies of all who hold office, including the Senate who has to confirm nominations, will balance out the appointments to federal judge seats over time and overall.

NOTE:

Research questions, hypothesis, theories…can all be tweaked with as I’m no expert in this field but hopefully my idea is clear. Hit on the difference it makes if we have a split government (liberal president, conservative senate, etc) or when one party controls the government. Does it make a difference on who the president nominates or who the Senate confirms or denies? What other factors control the layout, ideologically, of the judicial system? Stuff like that is what is in my head. Thanks.