«Authoritarian Regimes in Latin America

Hilbink Study Questions

1. What role did the Chilean Supreme Court play in the years leading up to the 1973 coup?
2. According to Hilbink, after 1925 the Court gained substantially more power and greater independence:
1. What changed to make it so?
2. Did the change make the Court more "democratic"? Did it make the Court less "political"?
3. The Court uses some of the myths from the Civil Law tradition (state positivism, mechanical application of the law) to justify its conduct at different times and make it look like it's not getting mixed up in politics but staying within the realm of the law. In Hilbink's view, does this make the court less political? Why or why not?
4. What has changed inside the judicial system recently, and what can we expect as a result?