Rogelio Perez Perdomo. “Lawyers and Political Liberalism in Venezuela.” In Fighting for Political Freedom: Comparative Studies of the Legal Complex and Political Liberalism. Edited by Terence C. Halliday, Lucien Karpik, and Malcolm M. Feeley, pp. 345-360, Oxford, U.K: Hart Publishing, 2007. This chapter analyzes the prosecution of three prominent Venezuelan jurists, Cecilia Sosa, Allan Brewer-Carías, …
Rogelio Pérez Perdomo. “The Venezuelan Legal Profession: Lawyers in an Inegalitarian Society.” In Lawyers in Society: An Overview, edited by Richard L. Abel and Philip S.C. Lewis, pp. 201-220. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1996. This chapter provides historical and socio-political context for understanding Venezuela’s legal and institutional development. It traces Venezuela’s trajectory from Spanish …
Venezuela’s acting president Delcy Rodríguez announced an “amnesty” bill that, if approved by the ruling party–controlled National Assembly of Venezuela, could lead to the release of hundreds of people detained for political reasons, including opposition figures, journalists, and human rights activists. The announcement came amid heightened political turmoil following the U.S. seizure of then-president Nicolás …
Urribarri, R. A. S. (2011). Courts between democracy and hybrid authoritarianism: evidence from the Venezuelan Supreme Court. Law & Social Inquiry, 36(4), 854-884. This article offers a theoretical discussion about courts in “hybrid regimes” that evolve from formerly democratic countries. The evolution toward authoritarianism typically allows governments more latitude to reduce judicial independence and judicial power. Yet, …
Z. Fathya & R. Santika, “Judicial Independence and Political Influence in Modern Democracies.” Journal of Law and Social Politics, vol. 3, no. 2 (2025): 57–70. Summary: This research examines contemporary human rights violations and evaluates the effectiveness of international legal mechanisms in addressing these issues. Case studies on Ukraine, Myanmar, Ethiopia, and Venezuela illustrate both the …
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 …
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 …