Judicial Independence in Russia: What Do Russians Think?

Please join us for an event in our Rule of Law speaker series, a presentation by Kathryn Hendley (University of Wisconsin-Madison).

Scholars have long debated whether judicial independence can exist under authoritarianism. Missing from this debate are the voices of those living under authoritarianism. Kathryn Hendley's presentation refocuses attention on these voices. Drawing on responses to a question that asked Russians whether they thought their judges were under the thumb of political elites, which was included in two surveys fielded independently in 2008 and 2018, her analysis explores what factors drive the respondents’ beliefs and the extent to which their attitudes have evolved over time. Among the relationships to be explored are the role of respondents’ education, their experiences with the legal system, and their attitudes towards law.