ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the relevance of two theoretical-conceptual clusters that inform the scholarly discussion of law and power in authoritarian contexts. However ruthless they may be, authoritarian leaders cannot simply disregard formal elements of governance, least of all law. On the contrary, authoritarian governance is dependent upon many functions of law and even upon an independent judiciary. At the same time, authoritarians do not want law to ‘stand in the way’ of repression and rent seeking. Key to my inquiry is how authoritarian regimes attune their institutional setup to satisfy these complex demands. The chapter concludes by considering some shortcomings of institutional hybridity and quasi-legal governance, yet establishes that these arrangements are not necessarily mishaps nor attempts to fool observers. From the point of view of the regime, quasi-legality works, even if imperfectly.
