Replication Data for: \"Justice as Checks and Balances: Indigenous Claims in the Courts of Colonial Mexico\"

The centralization of conflict resolution and the administration of justice, two crucial elements of state formation, are often ignored by the state-building literature. This article studies the monopolization of justice administration, using the historical example of the General Indian Court (GIC) of colonial Mexico. The author argues that this court's development and decision-making process can show us how the rule of law develops in highly authoritarian contexts. Centralized courts could be used strategically to solve an agency problem, limiting local elites' power and monitoring state agents. To curb these actors' power, the Spanish Crown allowed the indigenous population to raise claims and access property rights. But this access remained limited and subject to the Crown’s strategic considerations. The author’s theory predicts that a favorable ruling for the indigenous population was more likely in cases that threatened to increase the local elites’ power. This article shows the conditions under which the rule of law can emerge in a context where a powerful ruler is interested in imposing limits on local powers—and on their potential predation of the general population. It also highlights the endogenous factors behind the creation of colonial institutions and the importance of judicial systems in colonial governance.

作为国家建构的两大核心要素，冲突解决与司法行政常被国家建构研究文献所忽略。本文以殖民时期墨西哥的印第安总法院（General Indian Court, GIC）为历史案例，探讨司法行政的垄断化进程。作者提出，该法院的发展与决策过程，可揭示法治在高度威权语境下的生成路径。集权化法院可被战略性地用于解决委托代理问题，限制地方精英的权力并监督国家代理人。为抑制上述主体的权力扩张，西班牙王室允许原住民提起诉求并获取财产权，但此类权利始终受限，且需服从王室的战略考量。作者的理论预测：在可能加剧地方精英权力扩张的案件中，原住民获得有利判决的概率更高。本文阐明了在强势统治者有意限制地方权力及其对民众的潜在掠夺行为的语境下，法治得以生成的条件。同时，本文还揭示了殖民制度形成的内生性因素，以及司法体系在殖民治理中的重要性。