Why do autocrats place legal constraints on their power?

Authors

  • Juan Antonio Mayoral Díaz-Asensio

Keywords:

High Courts, authoritarian regimes, limited multiparty system, political opposition, judicial review

Abstract

The article studies comparatively the decision of the autocrats to establish or preserve high courts, analysing under which conditions they tolerate judicial institutions able to limit and review their power. Through the statistical analysis of new data on autocracies between 1972 and 2002 and case studies, the article analyses how autocrats are more prone to allow high courts in context where there is a powerful political opposition than in countries where the elite is cohesive. This ensures that these courts legitimize those decisions susceptible to generate dissent and avoid that the opposition capitalize controversial political issues that could threat the regime.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

How to Cite

Mayoral Díaz-Asensio, J. A. (2015). Why do autocrats place legal constraints on their power?. Revista De Estudios Políticos, (158), 41–74. Retrieved from https://recyt.fecyt.es/index.php/RevEsPol/article/view/39938

Similar Articles

1 2 3 4 > >> 

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.