Scheppele observes that modern autocrats are often lawyers themselves or surround themselves with legal technocrats. They understand that maintaining a veneer of legality is crucial for both domestic legitimacy and international acceptance. By passing laws through compliant legislatures and securing validation from captured courts, autocrats create a "legal" trajectory toward authoritarianism. This is not anarchy; it is hyper-order. The tragedy, as Scheppele notes, is that the opposition is often paralyzed because the government’s actions are technically legal. Opponents cannot point to a coup; they can only point to a series of bad laws that were passed by majorities that were often secured through unfair but technically legal maneuvers.
is a strategy used by democratically elected leaders to systematically dismantle democratic institutions and consolidate power through the law, rather than by overthrowing it. autocratic legalism kim lane scheppele upd
A decade ago, Princeton sociologist Kim Lane Scheppele coined a term that reshaped how political scientists diagnose democratic backsliding: As we move through 2026, her framework has proven not only prescient but essential for understanding how illiberal regimes—and increasingly, hybrid democracies—use the very tools of liberal governance to dismantle it from within. Scheppele observes that modern autocrats are often lawyers
: Changing election laws to ensure the leader never leaves office, effectively ending the rotation of power. IV. Case Studies & Updates (2024–2026) Autocratic Legalism - The University of Chicago Law Review This is not anarchy; it is hyper-order
Several countries have been affected by the rise of autocratic legalism, including:
: Scheppele coined this term to describe how autocrats take standard constitutional provisions from various liberal democracies and combine them to create an illiberal system that consolidates executive power. Facade of Legitimacy