is a strategy used by democratically elected leaders to systematically dismantle democratic institutions and consolidate power through the law, rather than by overthrowing it.
The warning of autocratic legalism is that the death of democracy often comes not with a bang, but with a statute. The most dangerous threat to a legal system is not lawlessness, but a legal system that has been engineered to serve power rather than constrain it. autocratic legalism kim lane scheppele upd
Laws are passed to specifically target opposition groups, NGOs, or independent media, often under the guise of "national security" or "transparency." Why It Is Effective is a strategy used by democratically elected leaders
Why Scheppele’s framing matters Scheppele’s analysis reframes the rule-of-law debate by showing that legality and authoritarianism are not mutually exclusive. Her work shifts focus from formal compliance with legal procedures to the underlying quality and function of law in a political system. This helps policymakers, scholars, and civil-society actors spot early-stage democratic backsliding that might otherwise be dismissed as “lawful” reform. Laws are passed to specifically target opposition groups,
Implementing regulations or tax laws that target critical media outlets or consolidate state-aligned media.