The Janus Model of Legal Regulation: Changes in the Political Status of Justice

Based on a social science perspective that gives priority to the political dimension of law and justice, this paper analyses three orientations of justice: as part of a rationalization process; as part of a democratization movement; and as part of a process of neoliberalization. From the analysis of these three types of legal regulation, two distinct forms of legal and judicial status may be identified in relation to the political: in the first, the legal-judicial is a central element in political regulation, while in the second it is instrumentalized by the political. The conclusion suggests that the existence of this Janus model of legal-judicial regulation points to a crisis in the political sphere.