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 …
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 …
Marie Seong-Hak Kim, “Travails of Judges: Courts and Constitutional Authoritarianism in South Korea.” The American Journal of Comparative Law, vol. 63, no. 3 (2015): 601–54. Summary: This study addresses the urgent need for enhanced external oversight of constitutional judges in Indonesia and South Korea, driven by increasing concerns over judicial integrity and accountability. Recent instances of …
Mahmoud Hamad. Judges and Generals in the Making of Modern Egypt: How Institutions Sustain and Undermine Authoritarian Regimes. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2018. Summary: Why do authoritarian regimes survive? How do dictators fail? What role do political institutions play in these two processes? Many of the answers to these questions can be traced to the same …
Hans Petter Graver, “Judging Without Impunity: On the Criminal Responsibility of Authoritarian Judges”. Bergen Journal of Criminal Law & Criminal Justice, vol. 4, no.1 (2016): 125-49. Summary: The purpose of this article is to examine how far, with due respect for the rule of law, criminal sanctions could be applied to judges for the exercise …
Björn Dressel and Cristina Regina Bonoan, “ Courts and Authoritarian Populism in Asia: Reflections from Indonesia and the Philippines.” Law & Policy, vol. 46, no. 3 (2024): 277–297. Summary: Authoritarian populism has been making a comeback in Asia, as illustrated in Southeast Asia’s most important presidential regimes: the Philippines and Indonesia. In the Philippines, President …
Tamir Moustafa, The Struggle for Constitutional Power: Law, Politics, and Economic Development in Egypt. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press, 2007. Summary: This book examines how judicial reform can both support and destabilize authoritarian regimes, using Egypt’s Supreme Constitutional Court as a case study. It investigates the paradox of a regime that created a relatively independent court to …
Tamir Moustafa, “Law and Courts in Authoritarian Regimes.” Annual Review of Law and Social Science, vol. 10, no.1 (2014): 281–299. Summary: This article surveys emerging research on the role of courts in authoritarian regimes, challenging earlier assumptions that they function solely as instruments of repression. It highlights how courts can serve as tools of governance, …
Margaret L Satterthwaite, “Unchecking Power and Capturing Courts: How Autocratization Erodes Independent Judicial Systems.” Rutgers University Law Review, vol. 76 (2023): 1147-1188. Summary: This article addresses the critical role of an independent and effective judiciary in safeguarding democracy amid rising global autocratization. It highlights how autocratic and authoritarian leaders—often initially elected—use a range of strategies …
Mark J. Osiel, “Dialogue with Dictators: Judicial Resistance in Argentina and Brazil.” Law & Social Inquiry, vol. 20, no. 2 (1995): 481-560. Summary: This article explores how judges respond to authoritarian pressure by analyzing judicial behavior under military rule in Argentina and Brazil. It investigates whether particular theories of legal interpretation—such as positivism, legal realism, or …