Silva Inclán Oseguera, “Judicial Reform in Mexico: Political Insurance or the Search for Political Legitimacy?” Political Research Quarterly, vol. 62, no. 4 (2009): pp. 753-766. Summary: Judicial reform presents a paradox: What makes governing elites decide to grant power to an autonomous judiciary that will eventually curtail their own powers? The engagement of governing elites in …
Zainal Arifin Mochtar, Idul Rishan, “Autocratic Legalism: the Making of Indonesian Omnibus Law.” Yustisia, vol. 11, no. 1 (2022): 29-41. Summary: The Indonesian House of Representatives’ approval of the Omnibus Law on Job Creation marks a significant enhancement of the business climate and a step forward for labor market flexibility, which should, over time, improve …
B.J. Kyle, A.G. Reiter, Military Courts, Civil-Military Relations, and the Legal Battle for Democracy: The Politics of Military Justice (1st ed.). London: Routledge, 2021. Summary: The interaction between military and civilian courts, the political power that legal prerogatives can provide to the armed forces, and the difficult process civilian politicians face in reforming military justice remain …
Peter Vondoepp, Rachel Ellett, “Reworking Strategic Models of Executive-Judicial Relations: Insights from New African Democracies.” Comparative Politics, vol. 43, no. 2 (2011): 147-165. Summary: In emerging African democracies, why do judiciaries experience high levels of government interference in some contexts and not in others? Original research conducted in five commonwealth African countries reveals that conventional strategic …
On August 22, 2025, former President Donald Trump’s administration filed an appeal to revive an executive order targeting prominent litigation firm Susman Godfrey. The order, previously struck down by U.S. District Judge Loren AliKhan, had suspended the firm’s security clearances and restricted its federal access, which the court found violated constitutional protections of free speech …
Jothie Rajah, “Punishing Bodies, Securing the Nation: How Rule of Law Can Legitimate the Urbane Authoritarian State.” Law & Social Inquiry, vol. 36, no. 4 (2011): 945–70. Summary: Although authoritarian rule of law may seem an oxymoron, strategic reconfigurations of the “rule of law” can produce acceptance of law that observes procedure while erasing rights. By …
Hadi Enayat, Law, State, and Society in Modern Iran : Constitutionalism, Autocracy, and Legal Reform, 1906-1941. New York: Palgrave Macmillan US, 1st ed. 2013. Summary: Using a ‘Historical Institutionalist’ approach, this book sheds light on a relatively understudied dimension of state-building in early twentieth century Iran, namely the quest for judicial reform and the rule of law …
Lynette J. Chua, Stacia L. Haynie, “Judicial Review of Executive Power in the Singaporean Context, 1965–2012.” Journal of Law and Courts, vol. 4, no. 1 (2016): 43–64. Summary: This article provides the first empirical analysis of court decisions that review the exercise of executive power, or judicial review, in Singapore, a single-party-dominated state known for its …
Amanda Driscoll, Michael J. Nelson, “Judicial Selection and the Democratization of Justice: Lessons from the Bolivian Judicial Elections.” Journal of Law and Courts, vol. 3, no. 1 (2015) Summary: In 2011, Bolivia became the first modern country to directly elect national judges. Reformers heralded the adoption of judicial elections as a “democratization of justice,” by which …
James Melton, Tom Ginsburg, “Does De Jure Judicial Independence Really Matter?: A Reevaluation of Explanations for Judicial Independence.” Journal of Law and Courts, vol. 2, no. 2 (2014): 187–217. Summary: The relationship between de jure and de facto judicial independence is much debated in the literature on judicial politics. Some studies find no relationship between the …