University of Wisconsin–Madison

Category: Evidence of Judges Resisting Democratic Decline

Kureshi (2021), “When Judges Defy Dictators: An Audience-Based Framework to Explain the Emergence of Judicial Assertiveness against Authoritarian Regimes”

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Yasser Kureshi, “When Judges Defy Dictators: An Audience-Based Framework to Explain the Emergence of Judicial Assertiveness against Authoritarian Regimes.” Comparative Politics, vol. 53, no. 2 (2021): 233–55, 1–2. Summary: The article explores the conditions under which judiciaries act assertively against authoritarian regimes. Kurashi argues that the judiciary coalesces around institutional norms and preferences in response to …

Kühn (2021), JUDGES UNDER STRESS: The Judiciary in Illiberal States

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Zdeněk Kühn, “SPECIAL ISSUE: JUDGES UNDER STRESS: The Judiciary in Illiberal States.” German Law Journal, vol. 22, no. 7 (2021): 1231-1246 Summary: This work deals with the actual functioning of the judicial power and the limits of its independence facing an illiberal or authoritarian state. The work offers a skeptical analysis of the past and especially …

Gyöngyi (2024), “The Role of Judicial Associations in Resisting Rule of Law Backsliding: Hidden Pathways of Protecting Judicial Independence Amidst Rule of Law Decay”

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Petra Gyöngyi, “The Role of Judicial Associations in Resisting Rule of Law Backsliding: Hidden Pathways of Protecting Judicial Independence Amidst Rule of Law Decay.” International Journal of the Law in Context (UK), vol. 20, no. 2 (2024):  pp.166-183. Summary: Hungary and Poland have been in the spotlight regarding their democratic backsliding, with Executives exerting control …

Moustafa (2007), “The Politics of Domination: Law and Resistance in Authoritarian States.”

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Tamir Moustafa. “The Politics of Domination: Law and Resistance in Authoritarian States,” Chapter. In The Struggle for Constitutional Power: Law, Politics, and Economic Development in Egypt. 19–56. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007. Summary: The thought of judicial institutions in authoritarian states typically conjures up the image of state security courts with no standards of due process, handpicked …

Moustafa (2007), “Introduction: Law versus the State”

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Tamir Moustafa. “Introduction: Law versus the State,” In The Struggle for Constitutional Power: Law, Politics, and Economic Development in Egypt. 1-18. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007. Summary: The article explores why an entrenched authoritarian regime would establish an independent constitutional court through a case study of Egypt. Although the ruling regime exerts its influence on all facets …

Ginsburg, Moustafa (2008), “Rule by Law: The Politics of Courts in Authoritarian Regimes”

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Tom Ginsburg and Tamir Moustafa, eds. Rule by Law: The Politics of Courts in Authoritarian Regimes. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008. Summary: Scholars have generally assumed that courts in authoritarian states are pawns of their regimes, upholding the interests of governing elites and frustrating the efforts of their opponents. As a result, nearly all studies …