Legal Dualism as a Framework for Analyzing the Role of Law under Authoritarianism

Abstract

This article assesses the usefulness of Fraenkel's concept of the dual state for understanding the role of law under authoritarianism. The concept, reframed as legal dualism, helps make sense of legal systems in which law matters most, but not all, of the time. A review of other analytical frameworks social scientists use to study authoritarian law reveals that they focus on the predilection of authoritarian leaders to manipulate law and courts to advance their interests. They pay little attention to how mundane disputes are handled. Only legal dualism contemplates multiple narratives of law that are a reality in contemporary authoritarian regimes. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Law and Social Science, Volume 18 is October 2022. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.