Yasser Kureshi

dr yasser kureshi
Research Associate
yasser.kureshi@area.ox.ac.uk

Yasser Kureshi’s research lies at the intersection of comparative law, socio-legal studies and political science. His work explores the socio-political foundations of judicial power, the roles courts play in volatile political systems, the political and constitutional dynamics of political transitions, and the formation of legal cultures.

 

His monograph Seeking Supremacy: The Pursuit of Judicial Power in Pakistan won an Honorable Mention for the Distinguished Book Award from the Asian Law and Society Association in 2023. His work has also been published in the Journal of Comparative Politics, Law and Social Inquiry, Government and Opposition and Democratization, among others.

Research Interests

Research Disciplines:

  • Law
  • Comparative Politics
  • South Asian Studies

Research Keywords:

  • Law and Courts, Constitutional Politics, Regime Transitions

Countries:

  • Pakistan

Research Cluster:

Contact Information

Email: yasser.kureshi@trinity.ox.ac.uk

Publications

Books:

  • Seeking Supremacy (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2022).

Articles:

  • “To Reinforce or Replace: Courts and Democratic Backsliding.” Government and Opposition 60, no. 4 (2025): 1247–72.
  • “When Judges Defy Dictators: An Audience-Based Framework to Explain the Emergence of Judicial Assertiveness against Authoritarian Regimes.” Comparative Politics 53, no. 2 (2021).
  • “The People’s Court: Dissonant Institutionalization and Judicial Populism in Pakistan.” Law and Social Inquiry. 2024. 
  • w/Rochana Bajpai. “Mechanisms of Democratic Authoritarianism: De-Centring the Executive in South Asia and Beyond.” Democratization 29, no. 8 (2022): 1385–96.
  • Kureshi, Yasser. “Selective Assertiveness and Strategic Deference.” Democratization 28, no. 3 (2021): 604–24.
  • w/ Zoha Waseem. “The Politics of Policing in Pakistan: Decentralisation of Power in a Federalised Political Landscape.” Commonwealth and Comparative Politics 62, no. 3 (2024): 315–38.
  • w/ Sharan Grewal. “How to Sell a Coup: Elections as Coup Legitimation.” Journal of Conflict Resolution 63, no. 4 (2019).