Autocratic Legalism Kim Lane Scheppele |verified| May 2026

This is an excellent topic, as Kim Lane Scheppele’s work on has become foundational for understanding how contemporary authoritarian regimes use law—not by discarding it, but by weaponizing it.

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In her landmark work, she defines as a strategy where incumbents use the forms of law—constitutions, statutes, courts, amendments—to dismantle democracy from within. This is an excellent topic, as Kim Lane