When Judges Defy Dictators: An Audience-Based Framework to Explain the Emergence of Judicial Assertiveness against Authoritarian Regimes

Main author: Kureshi, Yasser
Format: Journal Article           
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id eprints-32019
recordtype eprints
institution SOAS, University of London
collection SOAS Research Online
language English
language_search English
topic J Political Science
description Under what conditions do judiciaries act assertively against authoritarian regimes? I argue that the judiciary coalesces around institutional norms and preferences in response to the preferences of institutions and networks, or “audiences,” with which judges interact, and which shape the careers and reputations of judges. Proposing a typology of judicial-regime relations, I demonstrate that the judiciary’s affinity to authoritarian regimes diminishes as these audiences grow independent from the regime. Using case law research, archival research and interviews, I demonstrate the utility of the audience-based framework for explaining judicial behavior in authoritarian regimes by exploring cross-temporal variation across authoritarian regimes in Pakistan. This study integrates ideas-based and interest-based explanations for judicial behavior in a generalizable framework for explaining variation in judicial assertiveness against. authoritarian regimes.
format Journal Article
author Kureshi, Yasser
author_facet Kureshi, Yasser
authorStr Kureshi, Yasser
author_letter Kureshi, Yasser
title When Judges Defy Dictators: An Audience-Based Framework to Explain the Emergence of Judicial Assertiveness against Authoritarian Regimes
publisher City University of New York
publishDate 2021
url https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/32019/