Abstract
How does linguistic recognition in the courtroom affect popular confidence in the justice system among minorities? The authors argue (a) the recognition of either a minority language and/or a third-party’s language (lingua franca) during judicial proceedings increases confidence levels but (b) the use of a lingua franca is more effective. This is because minorities are more likely to favor an arrangement that levels the playing field by having everyone speak a lingua franca (relative fairness) than one that allows them to use their own language in a courtroom that is otherwise dominated by the majority language (absolute fairness). Using original data measuring the linguistic recognition in the judiciary, the authors find a significant and robust relationship between languages of the court and popular confidence in the justice system.
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