đź’ˇ : Autocratic legalism is a "legal" war on the rule of law. It turns the tools of democracy against itself, making it one of the most significant threats to modern constitutionalism.
If Hungary was the first mover, perfected the model after 2015. Scheppele, writing with her frequent collaborator Wojciech Sadurski, tracked how PiS replicated and even accelerated Orbán’s playbook: packing the Constitutional Tribunal, subordinating the ordinary judiciary through a new disciplinary chamber, and weaponizing lustration laws against judges who resisted.
Neutralizing independent media, the opposition, and civil society through regulatory changes or litigation (e.g., libel or slander suits). autocratic legalism kim lane scheppele upd
By working together to protect democracy and the rule of law, we can prevent the spread of autocratic legalism and ensure that the law is used to promote the common good, rather than to entrench authoritarian power.
: Define autocratic legalism as the use of constitutional and legal methods to implement an illiberal agenda. đź’ˇ : Autocratic legalism is a "legal" war
Autocratic legalism occurs when a leader with authoritarian ambitions uses their democratic mandate to launch a systematic attack on the institutions that are supposed to check their power. Unlike old-school dictators, autocratic legalists:
If you need a comparative or updated perspective (e.g., including Turkey or Venezuela), also useful is: : Define autocratic legalism as the use of
: Governments use legal procedures to capture independent institutions—like supreme courts or electoral commissions—filling them with loyalists.