We often frame authoritarianism as lawless, marked by constitutional rupture or institutional breakdown. But some of the most effective assaults on democracy have operated through law itself.

Around the world, leaders like Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Turkey and Viktor Orbán, the former prime minister of Hungary, have used legal systems, rules of law, and institutional practices to consolidate power, restrict dissent, and hollow out democratic accountability from within. That pattern is becoming more visible in the United States, where mounting political pressure on courts, lawyers, and legal institutions is raising urgent questions about the role of the legal profession in moments of democratic crisis.

“Lawyering Without Law,” a bi-weekly podcast from the Knight Institute, interrogates the unique and important role that lawyers play in defending democracy, or in facilitating the slide into authoritarianism. Hosted by Knight Institute Senior Fellow and Columbia Law Professor Madhav Khosla and the Knight Institute’s Research Director Katy Glenn Bass, the series brings together scholars, litigators, and practitioners to explore these dynamics across historical and contemporary contexts. Drawing on global examples of democratic backsliding, each episode connects these developments to the United States and outlines what is at stake for the legal profession and for democracy itself.

Read more about Khosla’s research project with the Knight Institute examining the crucial role that lawyers can play in preserving democratic freedoms and institutions here.

“Lawyering Without Law” will launch on May 1, 2026, and will be available on Apple, Spotify, and wherever you get podcasts.

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