Based on developments through mid-2026, autocratic legalists have refined their techniques, making them faster and harder to combat. A. The "Emergency" Loophole
Expanding the size of supreme courts to pack them with partisan loyalists.
She has also noted parallels in other contexts, such as , Venezuela (Maduro) , and increasingly Israel (judicial overhaul proposals) and India (use of constitutional amendments and regulatory power).
Since 2024, Scheppele and her collaborators (including Laurent Pech, Gábor Halmai, and Wojciech Sadurski) have documented significant evolutions. The keyword “UPD” now signals three major shifts.
According to Scheppele's foundational essays published via platforms like Chicago Unbound and ResearchGate , the strategy rests on three distinct pillars: autocratic legalism kim lane scheppele upd
"Buried within the general phenomenon of democratic decline is a set of cases in which charismatic new leaders are elected by democratic publics and then use their electoral mandates to dismantle by law the constitutional systems they inherited."
Kim Lane Scheppele’s framework of describes a modern method of democratic backsliding where leaders use constitutional and legal maneuvers to dismantle democracy from the inside.
Between 2010 and 2014, Orbán’s government enacted a new constitution (the Fundamental Law), reduced the Constitutional Court’s jurisdiction over fiscal matters, slashed the retirement age for judges from 70 to 62 (dismissing nearly 300 judges at once), installed a pro-government media council, and rewrote election rules to entrench the majority. Every step was legally taken. No tanks rolled. Yet by 2014, Hungary was no longer a liberal democracy.
Mandating early retirement ages to force independent judges off the bench. She has also noted parallels in other contexts,
Autocratic legalism sits in the treacherous space between them. It is, Scheppele writes, the use of liberal legal forms to achieve autocratic ends . The autocrat does not burn the constitution; he reinterprets it. He does not abolish parliament; he shrinks its quorum. He does not jail all opposition journalists; he passes a defamation law with such breathtakingly vague standards that only the government’s critics are charged.
In a controversial extension, Scheppele’s 2026 working paper (pre-circulated at Princeton’s “Democratic Resilience” workshop) applies the framework to the United States—not as a full autocracy, but as a case of . Examples:
Scheppele argues that autocratic legalism operates on three distinct but interconnected levels. Understanding these helps identify the "playbook" of modern authoritarians.
A recent development in countries like Hungary is the introduction of broad "Sovereignty Defense" acts. These laws grant governments discretionary power to investigate NGOs, media, and private citizens who receive any foreign funding, labeling their criticism of the state as a threat to national security. Because these are "rubber laws" with vague definitions, they allow for the total suppression of civil society without the need for traditional violence. The United States and "Counter-Constitutions" He does not abolish parliament
Instead of traditional coups, autocratic legalists maintain the of law while destroying its substance . Key Pillars of Autocratic Legalism
Once the courts are neutralized, the executive branch focuses on securing structural control over the state apparatus.
Recent discussions emphasize parallels in the U.S., particularly regarding attempts to overturn elections through judicial means and the use of executive orders to bypass congressional authority.