Authoritarian Legality

“Authoritarian legality” is used to describe the role of legal institutions in non-democracies. Scholars frequently distinguish between rule by law – where law and courts are wielded instrumentally – and rule of law, where government is beholden to the law. In autocracies, the former is assumed to prevail. However, the legal reality in autocracies is seldom so clear-cut. In this course we will explore the role of law and courts and the nature of rights in authoritarian regimes. Among the topics we will address are law and legitimation, legal institutions and accountability, legal mobilization, and the relationship between law, markets, and society, with a particular emphasis on political development and change in contemporary dictatorships. Comparative Politics