ABSTRACT This work seeks to contribute to the literature exploring the role of courts in democratic erosion and autocratization. Accordingly, I explore the dynamics of attacks against the judiciary and how this set into motion the erosion of democracy. My argument is that populists, leaders with autocratic tendencies or “false democrats” want to capture the courts to legally concentrate power on the ruling party. They do so by taking over the judiciary through (a) rhetorical attacks that weaken the already fragile public legitimacy of the courts and (b) legal attacks (institutional reforms) to dismantle judicial independence, technically removing a veto player and triggering democratic erosion. To develop this argument, I use the case of Mexico, a recent example that illuminates how both rhetorical and institutional attacks unfold to subvert judicial independence, capture the judiciary, and erode democracy. I develop this argument using two original databases.
Azul A. Aguiar Aguilar (Mon,) studied this question.