The pursuit of public interest litigation in Argentina and Bolivia

This dissertation examines the development of litigation and legal mobilization as constructive, participatory, strategic processes that have the potential to promote democratization and institution building in fragile democracies. Using Argentina and Bolivia as case studies, I show that the innovative use of strategic litigation and legal mobilization taking place in Latin America today holds significant promise for promoting social and institutional development in countries struggling with competing democratic and authoritarian impulses. A close examination of how local and regional permutations of strategic litigation play out at the intersection of law and politics in fragile democracies generates a more accurate, richer account of the relationship between law and democracy writ large, a relationship that has yet to be fully or properly theorized.