Courts as either Saviours or Enemies – Legal mobilization, Judicial Opportunity Structure and Policy Change

Abstract

The perception that courts are central political arenas is shared by both the social movement groups who use legal avenues to achieve policy reform and the populist political parties who believe that independent judiciaries illegitimately restrict the presumed will of the people. This raises several important research questions such as: How and when do actors mobilize law? Under what conditions does legal mobilization have an impact on law and policy? How do actors try to delegitimize courts? This panel welcomes contributions exploring these types of questions and others related to legal mobilization, litigation strategies, backlashes against the judiciary as a result of court induced policy reforms, and legal opportunity structures including access to both ordinary and constitutional courts and legal counsels.

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