Benjamin Garcia-Holgado, “Court-Packing and Democratic Decay: A necessary relationship?” Global Constitutionalism, vol. 12, no. 2 (July 2023): 350-377 Summary: A growing body of literature on the role of courts in democratic backsliding claims that court-packing weakens liberal democracy. However, this is not necessarily the case. The goals of the actors who produce court-packing help to …
Benjamin Garcia-Holgado, “Radicalization and the Origins of Populist Narratives about the Courts: The Argentinian Case, 2007–2015.” Journal of Illiberalism Studies, vol. 3, no. 2 (Summer 2023), 43-64. Summary: In Latin America, presidents from different ideological backgrounds have systematically attacked the judiciary in order to implement their preferred public policies. In many cases, the leaders who …
Sandra Botero, Benjamin Garcia-Holgado, “Judges under stress: The Argentine Supreme Court (2003-2023) and the Colombian Constitutional Court (2002-2023) amid polarization.” International Journal of Constitutional Law, Vol. 22, no.5 (December 2024): 1424-1448 Summary: In this article, the authors study how the Supreme Court of Argentina (2003-2023) and the Constitutional Court of Colombia (2002-2023) responded to periods …
Benjamin Garcia-Holgado and Raul Sanchez Urribarri, “The Dark Side of Legalism: Abuse of the Law and Democratic Erosion in Argentina, Ecuador, and Venezuela.” American Behavioral Scientist, vol. 68, no. 12 (August 2024): 60-66. Summary: Why do some elected leaders use legalistic strategies to undermine democracy from within? And under what conditions do they succeed in …
Benjamin Garcia-Holgado, “Overruling the Executive: Judicial Strategies to Resist Democratic Erosion.” Journal of Laws and Courts, vol. 13, no.1 (April 2025): 274-303. Summary: How can autonomous apex courts with specific attitudes and role conceptions counter executive aggrandizement? This article theorizes two causal mechanisms through which justices can resist democratic erosion. The first mechanism involves apex courts …
Madhav Khosla, “The Authoritarian Argument.” Journal of Democracy, vol. 36, no. 3 (2025): 47-62. Summary: The article rethinks the role of courts and judge in the autocratization process based on the case of Pakistan. It argues that attention should be shifted away from autocratization through law to law justifying autocratization. Rather than limiting the role …
In a dramatic escalation, former U.S. President Donald Trump announced a 50% tariff on all Brazilian imports, set to begin August 1, 2025. The move comes after lobbying efforts by Eduardo Bolsonaro, son of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who claims the Supreme Court in Brazil is unfairly targeting his father for political reasons. Trump …
This study explores how legal advocacy in authoritarian China shapes environmental social movements by channeling their efforts into less radical, more state-aligned paths.
This article examines administrative litigation against the government in authoritarian regimes, using over twenty years of data from China’s tax collection cases.
This article argues that entrenched authoritarian regimes strengthen judicial institutions to consolidate power by attracting investment, enforcing bureaucratic discipline, maintaining elite coalitions, and legitimizing controversial reforms.