Because changes are enacted through formally legitimate procedures, it is difficult for citizens or international monitors to identify and challenge them in real-time. The Autocratic Script: A Step-by-Step Dismantling
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The mechanism is simple yet devastating. A democratically elected leader, facing political gridlock or a hostile opposition, does not break the law. Instead, they use the law to hollow out democracy from within. They pass new statutes that reclassify opposition protests as extremism. They use anti-corruption laws to jail political rivals. They weaponize constitutional provisions for emergency powers to extend their term limits. They stack constitutional courts with loyalists who then "discover" that the leader’s power grab is perfectly legal. kim lane scheppele autocratic legalism