Authoritarian Politics and the Courts

Please join ACS and Prof. deLisle Feb. 23rd at noon in G-214 for a discussion of a critical issue facing the American judicial system!

There is a fundamental paradox when authoritarian regimes create autonomous courts that can undermine the regime's own authority. The United States is not an authoritarian polity and its courts are not authoritarian courts. Prof. deLisle will explore how the authoritarian court nonetheless offers an illuminating and disturbing lens for viewing recent and prospective landmark decisions, especially by the Supreme Court. Lunch will be served! RSVP here. 

Prof. deLisle's research and teaching focus on contemporary Chinese law and politics, including: legal reform and its relationship to economic reform and political change in China, the international status of Taiwan and cross-Strait relations, China’s engagement with the international order, legal and political issues in Hong Kong under Chinese rule, and U.S.-China relations. His writings on these subjects appear in a variety of fora, including international relations journals, edited volumes of multidisciplinary scholarship, and Asian studies journals, as well as law reviews. DeLisle is also professor of political science and former Director of the Center for East Asian Studies at Penn and director of the Asia Program at the Foreign Policy Research Institute.