Terence C. Halliday, Lucien Karpik, and Malcolm M. Feeley, eds. “The Legal Complex in Struggles for Political Liberalism.” In Fighting for Political Freedom: Comparative Studies of the Legal Complex and Political Liberalism, pp. 1-43, Oxford, U.K: Hart Publishing, 2007.

This chapter examines whether lawyers and the broader “legal complex” serve as active agents in the construction, consolidation, and defense of political liberalism across diverse political contexts. Drawing on sixteen case studies from Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and the Americas, the authors test the proposition that legal professionals do more than respond to market incentives; they often act at the forefront of efforts to institutionalize liberal political regimes.

The chapter advances a theoretical framework linking the politics of the legal profession to the fate of political liberalism. It argues that the relevant actor is not individual lawyers alone but a broader legal complex composed of lawyers, judges, and other legally trained professionals. This complex can drive both advances toward and retreats from liberalism, depending on context. Political liberalism is depicted as constantly contested, whether in emerging democracies, transitional regimes, or mature democracies facing internal and external threats. The central claim is that the legal arena constitutes a primary field of struggle over political power, and that the coordinated actions of bar and bench play a decisive role in regime transitions and democratic resilience.