21st Annual Student Research Conference
The Role of De Facto Judicial Independence in Democratic Consolidation
Alyssa M. Mayer
Dr. John Ishiyama, Faculty Mentor
In recent years political scientists have examined political institutions as significant factors in promoting democratic consolidation. However, with some exceptions, the judiciary has been largely overlooked in the consolidation process. This paper seeks to determine the role judicial independence plays in the consolidation of democracy in newly democratizing countries. Twenty eight countries were selected using Hayo and Voigt's (2005) measure for de facto judicial independence. Although the data used here render no statistically significant relationship, the results do offer some interesting insight into the association between judicial independence and democratic consolidation.
Keywords: judicial independence, democracy, consolidation, courts, institutions
Topic(s):Political Science
Presentation Type: Oral Paper
Session: 25-2
Location: OP 2113
Time: 10:00