Autocratic Legalism Kim Lane Scheppele Upd

Crucially, each stage is defended as legal . When the European Union invoked Article 7 proceedings against Hungary, Orbán’s government replied with hundreds of pages of legal argument. They had changed the law lawfully, they insisted. The fact that the law was designed to prevent future alternation in power was, in their view, a political question, not a legal one.

Autocratic Legalism: How Democracies Die by the Letter of the Law autocratic legalism kim lane scheppele upd

Autocrats in countries like Hungary, Poland, Turkey, and Venezuela have been observed "explicitly borrowing" strategies from one another. The 10-Step Autocratic Script Crucially, each stage is defended as legal

Backsliding happens via "a death by a thousand cuts"—small, technical changes that may go unnoticed until democracy is effectively hollowed out. The fact that the law was designed to

Scheppele argues that autocratic legalism operates on three distinct but interconnected levels. Understanding these helps identify the "playbook" of modern authoritarians.