University of Wisconsin–Madison

Category: Judges as Targets of Democratic Decline

Chia (2025), “Authoritarian Constitutionalism, Judicial Capture or the Ambivalence of Modern Law?”

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Eduardo A. Chia, “Authoritarian Constitutionalism, Judicial Capture or the Ambivalence of Modern Law?” Oñati Socio-Legal Series, vol. 15, no. 2 (2025): 427–458.  Summary: The work builds primarily on literature analysis to critically engage with two interrelated issues: (i) the notion of “authoritarian constitutionalism” and (ii) the ambivalences observed in judicature’s conceptual articulation and institutional structuration. …

Garcia-Holgado (2023), “Court-Packing and Democratic Decay: A necessary relationship?”

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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 …

Garcia-Holgado, Urribarri (2024), “The Dark Side of Legalism: Abuse of the Law and Democratic Erosion in Argentina, Ecuador, and Venezuela.”

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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 …

Khosla (2025), “The Authoritarian Argument.”

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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 …

Wang (2020), “The More Authoritarian, the More Judicial Independence? The Paradox of Court Reforms in China and Russia.”

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Yueduan Wang, “The More Authoritarian, the More Judicial Independence? The Paradox of Court Reforms in China and Russia.” University of Pennsylvania Journal of Constitutional Law, Vol. 22, no. 2 (2020): 529-560. Summary: Drawing conclusions largely from democracies, existing theories often positively associate judicial independence with political competition. This Article argues that a negative relationship exists …

Neal, Haynie (1993), “Authoritarianism and the Functions of Courts: A Time Series Analysis of the Philippine Supreme Court, 1961–1987.”

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Tate C. Neal and Stacia L. Haynie, “Authoritarianism and the Functions of Courts: A Time Series Analysis of the Philippine Supreme Court, 1961–1987.” Law & Society Review, vol. 27, no. 4 (1993): 707–40.  Summary: Focusing on the independent and powerful pre–martial law Philippine Supreme Court, the authors investigate the impact of the establishment and breakdown …

Szente (2021), “Stepping Into the Same River Twice? Judicial Independence in Old and New Authoritarianism.”

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Zoltán Szente, “Stepping Into the Same River Twice? Judicial Independence in Old and New Authoritarianism.” German Law Journal, vol. 22, no. 7 (2021): 1316–26.  Summary: The study seeks to answer the question of whether there are similarities between the methods used to limit judicial independence in Hungary during the last phase of the communist regime, …

Pereira (2008), “Of Judges and Generals: Security Courts under Authoritarian Regimes in Argentina, Brazil, and Chile”

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Anthony W Pereira. “Of Judges and Generals: Security Courts under Authoritarian Regimes in Argentina, Brazil, and Chile,” In Rule by Law: The Politics of Courts in Authoritarian Regimes. Edited by Tom Ginsburg and Tamir Moustafa, 23–57. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008. Summary: Few academic studies have taken the law and legal institutions under authoritarian regimes …

Özbudun (2015), “Turkey’s Judiciary and the Drift Toward Competitive Authoritarianism.”

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Ergun Özbudun, “Turkey’s Judiciary and the Drift Toward Competitive Authoritarianism.” The International Spectator, vol. 50, no. 2 (2015): 42–55. Summary: Turkey has always been considered an “illiberal democracy”, or in Freedom House’s terms, a “partly-free” country. In recent years, however, there has been a downward trend toward “competitive authoritarianism”. Such regimes are competitive in that opposition …

Meyer (2018), “Judges and Courts Destabilizing Constitutionalism: The Brazilian Judiciary Branch’s Political and Authoritarian Character.”

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Emilio Peluso Neder Meyer, “Judges and Courts Destabilizing Constitutionalism: The Brazilian Judiciary Branch’s Political and Authoritarian Character.” German Law Journal, vol. 19, no. 4 (2018): 727–68.  Summary: Contemporary democracies may confront several instances of exceptions that co-exist with constitutional institutions; they are never free from any risks. This Article relies on recent Brazilian judicial experiences …