By controlling the legislature, autocrats can control who is appointed to courts and ensure that the judiciary is stacked with partisan loyalists. Courts can then rule in favor of autocrats, approving their attacks on civil liberties and expansions of power. 

Wesleyan University

Autocrats seek to reduce checks on their power to consolidate power for themselves. To do so, they control the legislature, judiciary, and other institutions that typically check executive power. 

Attacking the Rule of Law and Reducing Checks on Executive Power

Haggard, S. & Kaufman, R. R. (2021). Backsliding: Democratic Regress in the Contemporary World. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Haggard & Kaufman (2021)

Controlling the legislature is necessary for autocrats to pass laws to their benefit. The most straightforward way to control the legislature is through winning an outright majority in legislative elections, though autocratic parties can form coalitions with other parties as well.

Controlling the Legislature

Compromising the Independence of the Judiciary

With the backing of a complicit legislature, autocrats can control who is appointed to executive agencies that engage in government oversight, such as agencies targeting government corruption. Without these agencies acting as independent political bodies, corruption can flourish uninhibited. 

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