Explaining Judicial Legitimacy-Building in Latin America: The Case of the Argentine Supreme Court

Abstract

This article analyzes how judges build public legitimacy in Latin America through a qualitative case study showing that, between 2004 and 2009, the Argentine Supreme Court sought to reverse a deep crisis of public legitimacy. Based on content analysis of secondary sources and interviews with key actors, the study supports the hypothesis that judges work to maintain the visibility of judicial affairs to build public legitimacy in the region. It argues that judges react to the constraints of the political context and are capable of intervening in it. Moreover, it posits that in doing so, they rely on tools beyond their judicial function—most notably, their communication strategies.