German Institute for Global and Area Studies | Leibniz-Institut für Globale und Regionale Studien

German Institute for Global and Area Studies | Leibniz-Institut für Globale und Regionale Studien

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Alina Ripplinger

Doctoral Researcher

Alina Ripplinger

  • Short CV

    • Since 11/2022 Doctoral Researcher at GIGA, Democratic Institutions in the Global South (DEMINGS).
    • 11/2022 - 11/2023 Research Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law (MPIL).
    • 04/2021 - 10/2022 Project Assistant at the MPIL, "Ius Constitutionale Commune en América Latina" (ICCAL).
    • 09/2019 - 03/2021, Student Assistant at MPIL, "Constitutional Courts and the Erosion of Democracy in Latin America" & "ICCAL/ COVID-19".

    Current Research

    • Autocratization, Law & Civil Resistance

    Countries and Regions

    • Nicaragua
    • Central America

    Dissertation

    • Politics of Legal Resistance: The Strategic Use of Law to Counter Autocratization

    Awards

    • Best Conference Paper Award for an Early-Career Researcher, European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR), 2024

    Alina Ripplinger

    Doctoral Researcher

    T. +49 40 42825-798[email protected]

    Publications

    Edited Volume | 06/2024

    América Central: El derecho ante democracias desafiadas

    Within an ongoing global debate on autocratization, the present book aims to study a region that still seems to be insufficiently analyzed in the global discourse: Central America. Nine thematic chapters on El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala and Nicaragua explore the scope, paths and mechanisms of autocratization, while also examining resistance and opposition, combining legal-political analysis. The chapters hence make contributions with regards to 1. institutions, power structures and mechanisms of autocratization; 2. actors and mechanisms of resistance; and 3. international law, introducing the applicable standards to situations of autocratization.

    Alina Ripplinger

    Dr. Mariela Morales Antoniazzi

    Prof. Dr. Armin von Bogdandy

    GIGA Focus Latin America | 1/2024

    Guatemala: A Vote for Turning the Tide

    In Guatemala, President Bernardo Arévalo took office on 15 January 2024, raising hopes of democratic reform. Still, an entrenched elite has continuously distorted the independence of the judiciary. Not only are elections highly contested; democracy itself is on the line. Can Guatemala turn the tide?

    Prof. Dr. Sabine Kurtenbach

    Désirée Reder

    Alina Ripplinger

    Blog Article | 05/2022

    Nicaragua’s OAS Raid and the Inter-American System

    On 24 April 2022, Nicaraguan National Police officers raided the premises of the Organization of American States (OAS) in Managua. After confiscating all documents at the premises, Nicaragua’s foreign secretary called the OAS a “diabolic instrument” on live TV and announced Nicaragua’s immediate and definitive withdrawal from all OAS organs. Nicaragua had already submitted its withdrawal to the OAS in November 2021. However, the withdrawal was only to take effect after a two-year period in 2023. The raid has further aggravated tensions between the Nicaraguan government and the OAS which have built up in the aftermath of last year’s election. Against this backdrop, this blogpost develops a threefold argument: It lays out that the withdrawal prima facie does not meet democratic requirements set by the Inter-American Court, it details that the raid was a blatant violation of international law and lays out the continuing obligations of the Nicaraguan State in the Inter-American system.

    Alina Ripplinger

    Doctoral Researcher

    Florian Kriener

    Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law

    Chapter in Edited Volume | 2022

    Las Transformaciones Constitucionales Latinoamericanas: Desafíos Actuales a la luz del Test Democrático Interamericano

    Alina Ripplinger

    Doctoral Researcher

    Dr. Mariela Morales Antoniazzi

    Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law

    Blog Article | 12/2021

    Nicaragua: Ante la Salida de la OEA

    With an "indeclinable manifesto", the Nicaraguan government presented on November 18, 2021, its denunciation of the Charter of the Organization of American States (OAS). This decision brings as a consequence the separation from the values and principles of the organization. However, the obligations of the State of Nicaragua persist at both the national and regional levels. Also, the Advisory Opinion OC 26-20 by the Inter-American Court (IACtHR) highlights that in cases of denunciation five courses of action may be activated, among them, the investigation and prosecution of serious human rights violations, the guarantee of rights related to the refuge, and the granting of asylum, and the activation of bilateral relations.

    Alina Ripplinger

    Doctoral Researcher

    Research Projects

    Research Project | 01/05/2021 - 30/04/2026

    Democratic Institutions in the Global South (DEMINGS)

    This project contributes new knowledge on the functioning of democratic institutions in the Global South, their (in)efficacy to constrain powerful executives, and the effects of particular institutions on both democratic quality and regime stability. The focus is on countries with presidential constitutions, i.e., those with directly elected presidents, an institutional choice that extended worldwide in the last decades.
    Leibniz Competition, 2021-2026

    Media Contributions

    Latin America Advisor | Expert Comment / Guest Contribution | 24/02/2023

    What Led Ortega to Expel Hundreds of Political Opponents?

    Nicaragua released 222 imprisoned government opponents and deported them to the United States. This maneuver advances a path of violations of elementary constitutional and international norms, and of a criminalization of political, social and cultural leaders.

    Podcast Agenda Pública | Other | 23/04/2022

    Podcast Agenda Pública Nicaragua: "From the Sandinista revolution to the police state"

    Daniel Ortega is the president of Nicaragua. He has been in power for more than 15 uninterrupted years. How much is left of initial ideas? Can it be said that Ortega's current government is leftist? How has it gone from the Sandinista revolution to a police state in Nicaragua? 

    Agenda Pública, El País | Mention | 01/12/2021

    "Los gobernantes no se interesan por la gente"

    Las elecciónes del 7 de noviembre en Nicaragua se desplegaron con irregularidades, violencia y una abstención del 81,5%. Las condenas internacionales no tardaron en llegar. El régimen de Ortega-Murillo ha reaccionado denunciado la Carta de la Organización de Estados Americanos y anunciado su salida. Lo explica Alina Ripplinger.

    Lectures

    Conference | 12/08/2024 - 15/08/2024

    Politics of Legal Resistance: The strategic use of law to counter autocratization

    ECPR General Conference 2024, University College Dublin, Dublin Alina Ripplinger (Speaker)

    Alina Ripplinger presents her paper "Politics of Legal Resistance: The strategic use of law to counter autocratization" at the ECPR General Conference 2024. The presentation is part of the panel "Courts and judges under pressure".

    Alina Ripplinger

    Doctoral Researcher

    Conference | 14/02/2024 - 16/02/2024

    Violent Legacies, Social Movements, Uncertain Futures

    Violent Legacies, Social Movements, Uncertain Futures, Universidad de Costa Rica, San José Désirée Reder (Organiser), Prof. Dr. Sabine Kurtenbach (Organiser), Alina Ripplinger (Panelist)

    In Central America, democracy and peacebuilding processes are currently threatened. Researchers and civil society representatives discussed potential pathways out of the crisis in a three-day workshop at the University of Costa Rica in San José, organised by GIGA.

    Désirée Reder

    Prof. Dr. Sabine Kurtenbach

    Alina Ripplinger

    Conference | 28/09/2023 - 29/09/2023

    From Legal Mobilization to Accountability? Strategies to Halt Autocratic Consolidation in Nicaragua

    Resisting the Autocratic Turn: Can (and should) Autocratization Be Prevented, Stopped, and Resisted?, ULB, Brussels Organisers: Berlin Social Science Center, SCRIPTS Cluster of Excellence "Contestations of the Liberal Script" Alina Ripplinger (Speaker)

    Paper presentation in the scope of the international conference: "Resisting the autocratic turn: Can (and should) autocratization be prevented, stopped, and resisted?", convened by Luca Tomini (ULB) and Johannes Gerschewski (WZB).

    Alina Ripplinger

    Doctoral Researcher

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