Awards

• Winner of American Association for Ukrainian Studies Book Prize 2012-2013
• Winner of American Association for Ukrainian Studies Book Prize 2012-2013.
• Winner of American Association for Ukrainian Studies Book Prize 2012–2013

Overview

Why are independent courts rarely found in emerging democracies? This book moves beyond familiar obstacles, such as an inhospitable legal legacy and formal institutions that expose judges to political pressure. It proposes a strategic pressure theory, which claims that in emerging democracies, political competition eggs on rather than restrains power-hungry politicians. Incumbents who are losing their grip on power try to use the courts to hang on, which leads to the politicization of justice. The analysis uses four original datasets, containing 1,000 decisions by Russian and Ukrainian lower courts from 1998 to 2004. The main finding is that justice is politicized in both countries, but in the more competitive regime (Ukraine) incumbents leaned more forcefully on the courts and obtained more favorable rulings.

Full Product Details

9781107694033

Table of Contents

Reviews

'... Politicized Justice in Emerging Democracies is an interesting and noteworthy contribution to the literature on courts in post-Soviet Russia and Ukraine. It demonstrates a masterful combination of various research methods, a coherent and convincing narrative and the courage to study a highly politicised and understudied topic.' Europe-Asia Studies

Author Information

Maria Popova is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science at McGill University. She is the winner of the 2007 Edward S. Corwin Award from the American Political Science Association for best dissertation in the field of public law and the 2006 Sumner Dissertation Prize in the Department of Government at Harvard University. Her writings have been published in Comparative Political Studies, Demokratizatsiya, Europe-Asia Studies, the Journal of East European Law and Konstitutsionnoe Pravo: Vostochnoevropeiskoe Obozrenie.

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available