Democracies and International Law

Tom Ginsburg is the Leo Spitz Professor of International Law, University of Chicago Law School, and a research associate at the American Bar Foundation. He is the author, most recently, of How to Save a Constitutional Democracy (2018, with Aziz Huq). He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Before entering law teaching, he served as a legal advisor at the Iran – United States Claims Tribunal, The Hague, Netherlands, and he has consulted with numerous international development agencies and governments on legal and constitutional reform. He currently serves as a senior advisor on Constitution Building to International IDEA.

Introduction: A tale of two dictators; 1. Why would democracies be different?; 2. Are democracies different? Some facts; 3. Can international law save democracy?; 4. Regions and the defense of democracy; 5. Authoritarian international law; 6. Whence the liberal order? China, the United States, and the return of sovereignty; Conclusion: What is to be done?