Challenging Authoritarianism Through Law: Potentials and Limit
22 Pages Posted: 8 Dec 2010
Date Written: December 7, 2010
Abstract
The potentials and limit of legal reform in an authoritarian state is a fascinating issue. Scholars and practitioners have argued whether legal reform can soften the edge of an authoritarian system and eventually liberalize it, or whether the legal reform would simply further entrench the authoritarian rule. This paper attempts to contribute to this debate by examining the efforts of activist lawyers in China in mobilizing law to protect and promote rights, and the implications of their legal activism on China’s political and legal development. The Communist Party has created an autonomous profession of lawyers and now has to live with the challenges it poses.
Keywords: China, public interest litigation, authoritarian state, legal reform, lawyers, human rights, anti-discrimination, rule of law, politics, Chinese Communist Party, democracy, rightful resistance, access to justice, legal service, court, media, litigation, social justice, legal activism, civil society
JEL Classification: J7, J70, J71, K00, K1, K10, K19, K4, K40, K41, K42, K49, N45, P2, P20
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