We found a match
Your institution may have access to this item. Find your institution then sign in to continue.
- Title
Autocratic Legalism.
- Authors
Scheppele, Kim Lane
- Abstract
Buried within the general phenomenon of democratic decline is a set of cases in which charismatic new leaders are elected by democratic publics and then use their electoral mandates to dismantle by law the constitutional systems they inherited. These leaders aim to consolidate power and to remain in office indefinitely, eventually eliminating the ability of democratic publics to exercise their basic democratic rights, to hold leaders accountable, and to change their leaders peacefully. Because these "legalistic autocrats" deploy the law to achieve their aims, impending autocracy may not be evident at the start. But we can learn to spot the legalistic autocrats before autocratic constitutionalism becomes fatal because they are often following a script using tactics that they borrow from each other. This Essay explains the paths that these autocratic legalists take, the danger signals that accompany their legal reforms, and the methods they use to dismantle liberal constitutions. The Essay also suggests how the legalistic autocrats may be stopped.
- Subjects
DEMOCRACY; CONSTITUTIONAL law; CONSTITUTIONALISM; POPULISM; SEPARATION of powers
- Publication
University of Chicago Law Review, 2018, Vol 85, Issue 2, p545
- ISSN
0041-9494
- Publication type
Article