That question framed "Designing Assertiveness: How Institutional Architecture Shapes Constitutional Court Behavior," presented on 15 January 2026 by Joan-Josep Vallbé, Kálmán Pócza, Gábor Dobos and Attila Gyulai. The paper appeared in the Judges on Apex Courts panel at the Southern Political Science Association (SPSA) Annual Conference, which ran in New Orleans from 14 to 17 January. The authors focused on the institutional arrangements that condition judicial choices.