Abstract: Various theories, notably those of McCubbins & Schwartz and Landes & Posner, say why judicial independence might be desired by voters and politicians. Why, however, are judges independent in some elected regimes but not others? We develop an "alternating-parties" explanation based on the theory of repeated games and use it to explain the differences between Japan in the 1920's, Japan 1950-1990, and federal judges in the United States. We also discuss why other elite bureaucrats are treated differently from judges.