Autocratic Legalism Kim Lane Scheppele Upd -

In the twilight of the 20th century, political scientists largely agreed on a simple, reassuring binary. Democracies had courts, constitutions, and the rule of law. Authoritarian regimes had show trials, secret police, and arbitrary edicts. The path from one to the other was violent and obvious—a coup, a revolution, a tank in the square.

Example A — Hungary (post-2010, Viktor Orbán and Fidesz)

Example E — United States (debated elements: constitutional hardball) autocratic legalism kim lane scheppele upd

Once the courts are neutralized, the executive branch focuses on securing structural control over the state apparatus.

Illiberal agendas are advanced through formally legitimate procedures, such as constitutional amendments and new legislation. In the twilight of the 20th century, political

Scheppele is not merely a diagnostician of collapse; she is also a theorist of restoration. Her work argues that the blind adherence to legality is an insufficient response to autocratic legalism.

Kim Lane Scheppele, a professor at Princeton University, defines as the process by which democratically elected leaders use their mandates to dismantle the constitutional systems they inherited through legal means. Instead of traditional coups with "tanks and soldiers," these leaders rely on "teams of lawyers" to consolidate power and eliminate democratic checks. Core Mechanism: "Destroying Democracy by Law" The path from one to the other was

If you need a comparative or updated perspective (e.g., including Turkey or Venezuela), also useful is:

: Lowering the mandatory retirement age for judges to force independent jurists out, then restoring it after filling vacancies with regime loyalists.

Kim Lane Scheppele 's foundational text on Autocratic Legalism was published in the University of Chicago Law Review The University of Chicago Law Review Core Thesis of the Text Scheppele defines autocratic legalism

Implementing regulations or tax laws that target critical media outlets or consolidate state-aligned media.