The Achilles Heel of Democracy
eBook - PDF

The Achilles Heel of Democracy

Judicial Autonomy and the Rule of Law in Central America

  1. English
  2. PDF
  3. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - PDF

The Achilles Heel of Democracy

Judicial Autonomy and the Rule of Law in Central America

About this book

Featuring the first in-depth comparison of the judicial politics of five under-studied Central American countries, The Achilles Heel of Democracy offers a novel typology of 'judicial regime types' based on the political independence and societal autonomy of the judiciary. This book highlights the under-theorized influences on the justice system - criminals, activists, and other societal actors - and the ways that they intersect with more overtly political influences. Grounded in interviews with judges, lawyers, and activists, it presents the 'high politics' of constitutional conflicts in the context of national political conflicts as well as the 'low politics' of crime control and the operations of trial-level courts. The book begins in the violent and often authoritarian 1980s in Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua, and spans through the tumultuous 2015 'Guatemalan Spring'; the evolution of Costa Rica's robust liberal judicial regime is traced from the 1950s.

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Yes, you can access The Achilles Heel of Democracy by Rachel E. Bowen in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Law & Comparative Law. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Information

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Half title
  3. Title
  4. Copyright
  5. Contents
  6. List of Tables
  7. List of Figures
  8. Acknowledgments
  9. 1 Societally Penetrated Judiciaries and the Democratic Rule of Law
  10. 2 The Evolution of Judicial Regimes
  11. 3 Costa Rica: A Liberal Judicial Regime
  12. 4 Government Control Regimes in Central America versus the Rule of Law
  13. 5 Clandestine Control in Guatemala
  14. 6 Partisan Systems
  15. Conclusion: Judicial Regimes and the Democratic Rule of Law
  16. Appendix A: Methodology and Sample
  17. Appendix B: Technical Aspects of the Costa Rican Judiciary
  18. Appendix C: Technical Aspects of the Guatemalan Judiciary
  19. Appendix D: Technical Aspects of the Nicaraguan Judiciary
  20. Appendix E: Technical Aspects of the Honduran Judiciary
  21. Appendix F: Technical Aspects of the Salvadoran Judiciary
  22. Works Cited
  23. Index