Rule by Law
The Politics of Courts in Authoritarian Regimes

This volume examines the dynamics of judicial politics in authoritarian states.

Tom Ginsburg (Edited by), Tamir Moustafa (Edited by)

9780521720410, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 8 May 2008

392 pages, 9 b/w illus. 21 tables
22.6 x 15.2 x 2 cm, 0.52 kg

"Every chapter of this book makes an analytically sophisticated argument about authoritarianism and law. Since more than half of all states can be characterized as authoritarian or semiauthoritarian, this volume provides frames of analysis and empirical examples that can stimulate and guide future research, and move the study of judicial politics in exciting new directions.
Perspectives on Politics, Lisa Hajjar, University of California- Santa Barbara

Scholars have generally assumed that courts in authoritarian states are pawns of their regimes, upholding the interests of governing elites and frustrating the efforts of their opponents. As a result, nearly all studies in comparative judicial politics have focused on democratic and democratizing countries. This volume brings together leading scholars in comparative judicial politics to consider the causes and consequences of judicial empowerment in authoritarian states. It demonstrates the wide range of governance tasks that courts perform, as well as the way in which courts can serve as critical sites of contention both among the ruling elite and between regimes and their citizens. Drawing on empirical and theoretical insights from every major region of the world, this volume advances our understanding of judicial politics in authoritarian regimes.

1. Introduction Tom Ginsburg and Tamir Moustafa
2. Of judges and generals: security courts under authoritarian regimes in Argentina, Brazil, and Chile Anthony Pereira
3. Administrative law and judicial control of agents in authoritarian regimes Tom Ginsburg
4. Singapore: the exception that proves rules matter Gordon Silverstein
5. Judicial independence in authoritarian regimes: insights from Chile Lisa Hilbink
6. Law and resistance in authoritarian states: the Egyptian case Tamir Moustafa and Simon Fraser
7. Courts out of context: the authoritarian sources of judicial failure in Chile (1973–90) and Argentina (1976–83) Robert Barros
8. An authoritarian enclave? The supreme court in Mexico's emerging democracy Beatriz Magaloni
9. The institutional diffusion of courts in China: evidence from survey data Pierre Landry
10. Building judicial independence in semi-democracies: Uganda and Tanzania Jennifer Widner
11. Judicial power in authoritarian states: the Russian experience Peter Solomon
12. Courts in a semi-democratic/authoritarian regime: the judicialization of Turkish and Iranian politics Hootan Shambayati
13. Judicial systems and economic development Hilton Root and Karen May
14. Courts in authoritarian regimes Martin Shapiro.

Subject Areas: Comparative law [LAM], Comparative politics [JPB]