University of Wisconsin–Madison

Category: Politics Within the Legal Profession

Chua (2022), The Politics of Rights and Southeast Asia

This book introduces the politics of rights as a socio-legal framework for understanding how rights are mobilized, contested, and reshaped in the culturally and politically complex region of Southeast Asia.

Barzilai (2015), “Can Government Lawyers Save Us? A Comment on Lawyering for the Rule of Law”

This article reflects on the global expansion of judicial review, emphasizing how courts—both in liberal and non-liberal democracies—strategically position themselves in shaping public policy.

Feely (2015), “An Introduction to Lawyering for the Rule of Law”

This article introduces a symposium on Yoav Dotan’s Lawyering for the Rule of Law: Government Lawyers and the Rise of Judicial Power in Israel, a landmark study of how state attorneys can both constrain and enable government power.

Tai, Veitch, Fu, and Cullen. (2020), “Pursuing Democracy In An Authoritarian State: Protest And The Rule Of Law In Hong Kong”

This article examines the Occupy Central (OC) trial in Hong Kong as a pivotal moment in the legal and political struggle against authoritarian backsliding.

Ipsen (2020), “Repeat Players, The Law, And Social Change: Redefining The Boundaries Of Environmental And Labor Governance Through Preemptive And Authoritarian Legality”

This article highlights how attorneys are central to these strategies, revealing the political role of legal professionals in reinforcing corporate power under weakened democratic institutions.

Prempeh (2000), “Lawyers and Liberal Democracy.”

This analysis revisits Alexis de Tocqueville’s reflections on the essential role lawyers play in sustaining liberal democracy, especially in guarding against the excesses of majoritarian rule.

Pereira (2003), “Explaining Judicial Reform Outcomes in New Democracies: The Importance of Authoritarian Legalism in Argentina, Brazil, and Chile”

This article investigates how the legacies of authoritarian legal systems influence the capacity of attorneys to drive judicial reform in emerging democracies, with case studies from Chile, Argentina, and Brazil.

Wang (2025), “The Legality Trap: Legal Cooptation Under Authoritarianism”

This study explores how legal advocacy in authoritarian China shapes environmental social movements by channeling their efforts into less radical, more state-aligned paths.

Cui (2016), “Does Judicial Independence Matter: A Study of the Determinants of Administrative Litigation in an Authoritarian Regime”

This article examines administrative litigation against the government in authoritarian regimes, using over twenty years of data from China’s tax collection cases.

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

This article argues that entrenched authoritarian regimes strengthen judicial institutions to consolidate power by attracting investment, enforcing bureaucratic discipline, maintaining elite coalitions, and legitimizing controversial reforms.