MERIT SELECTION FOR JUDGES, SOCIOECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT, GOVERNMENTAL DEVELOPMENT AND MODERNIZATION, AND POLITICAL PARTY COMPETITION WERE EXAMINED REGARDING THEIR INFLUENCE ON INNOVATION IN JUDICIAL ADMINISTRATION. MERIT SELECTION IS RELATED TO BROAD JUDICIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REFORMS SINCE THE MERIT SELECTION SYSTEM ALLOWS JUDGES TO INSTITUTE REFORM WITHOUT BEING VULNERABLE TO POLITICAL RETALIATION. RESULTS, HOWEVER, DID NOT SHOW A SIGNIFICANT CORRELATION BETWEEN THE EXISTENCE OF A MERIT SELECTION SYSTEM AND BROADER JUDICIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REFORM. CENTRALIZED JUDICIAL MANAGEMENT, COURT CONSOLIDATION AND SIMPLIFICATION, JUDICIAL EDUCATION AND QUALIFICATION, AND JUDICIAL RULEMAKING WERE INNOVATIVE ENDEAVORS SIGNIFICANTLY RELATED ONLY TO GENERAL STATE GOVERNMENTAL DEVELOPMENT AND MODERNIZATION. THIS IS TO SAY THAT STATES TENDING TO BE ENERGETIC IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF NEW FORMS OF GOVERNING IN GENERAL ALSO INCLUDED JUDICIAL ADMINISTRATION AS AN AREA FOR IMPROVEMENT. FURTHER RESEARCH SHOULD AIM AT DETERMINING WHAT FACTORS INFLUENCE GENERAL INNOVATIVE ACTION IN STATE GOVERNMENTS, WITH PARTICULAR ATTENTION TO WHETHER STATE OR LOCAL INTERESTS PREVAIL IN COURT REORGANIZATION. TABULAR DATA AND 12 FOOTNOTES ARE PROVIDED.