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

Dr. Cordula Tibi Weber

Short CV

Since 2018: Research Fellow at the GIGA Institute of Latin American Studies in the DFG-project „Latin American Courts Going Public: Institutional Innovations for Social Participation in the Judicial Decision-Making Process“
2017 - 2018: Scientific assistant of Prof. Dr. Sandra Destradi, Chair of International Relations and Regional Governance at the Helmut-Schmidt-Universität/Universität der Bundeswehr Hamburg
2014 – 2018: Participation in the DAAD-CAPES-Kooperationsprojekt „The Institutional Presidency in Latin America“
2013 - 2019: Doctoral Student at the University of Hamburg and the GIGA Doctoral Programme
2011 - 2015: Research Fellow at the GIGA Institute of Latin American Studies in the Leibniz-project „Judicial (In)dependence in New Democracies. Courts, Presidents and Legislatures in Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa“ Education: Political Science and Latin American Studies at the University of Hamburg
Education: Political Science and Latin American Studies at the University of Hamburg

Current Research

The role of courts in the political system
Judicial legitimacy
Courts and the public
Judicial independence in new democracies, especially Latin America
Development of democracy in Paraguay

Countries and Regions

Latin America
Paraguay

Research Programmes

Accountability and Participation

Memberships

European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR), Member of the Steering Committee of the Standing Group on Law and Courts of the European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR), since 2024

Dissertation

The Contested Role of Courts in New Democracies: Political Interferences in Comparative Perspective

Dr. Cordula Tibi Weber

T. +49 (40) 42825-524 [email protected]

GIGA Focus Latin America | 2/2025

Latin America: Germany’s Indispensable Partner

Trump’s disruptive policies could inadvertently provide the impetus to bring Europe and Latin America closer together. With smart policies, the incoming German government can leverage shared interests for a renewed partnership.

Prof. Dr. Bert Hoffmann

Dr. Jonas von Hoffmann

Prof. Dr. Sabine Kurtenbach

Prof. Dr. Mariana Llanos

Janaina Maldonado Guerra da Cunha

Dr. Tomas Costa de Azevedo Marques

Prof. Dr. Detlef Nolte

Désirée Marlen Reder

Dr. Samuel Siewers

Dr. Cordula Tibi Weber

Erasmus Law Review | 10/2024

Public Trust, Judicial Independence and Social Media Engagement of Latin American High Courts

How is the behaviour of Latin American high courts in Twitter shaped by different levels of trust and political attacks experienced by the courts? This article shows that courts with lower levels of trust tend to be more active in social media and to produce more self-promotional or educational content than purely informational one.

Dr. Cordula Tibi Weber

Policy Paper | 08/2024

Going Public: A Strategy to Increase Trust and to Protect Independence

Mechanisms of social participation help courts to take more inclusive decisions,
gain more trust from the population as well as the support they need in cases of political attacks against their independence and power.

Prof. Dr. Mariana Llanos

Co-Leader of the GIGA Institute for Latin American Studies (ad interim)

Dr. Cordula Tibi Weber

Bibliotheca Ibero-Americana | 04/2024

How and Why Do Courts Tweet?: An Explorative Study of Latin American High Courts

Today, many state institutions use social media to present their work to a broader audience. Most of them tweet very frequently about different aspects of their activities or broader law topics. In this article, I explore how Latin American high courts use X, former Twitter, and propose potential explanations for their different communication strategies.

Dr. Cordula Tibi Weber

Revista de Ciencia Política | 2024

Latin American Courts Going Public: A Comparative Assessment

In the last two decades, Latin American high courts engaged in institutional innovations promoting social participation in their judicial decision-making through mechanisms as public hearings or the use of social media. This article theorizes this engagement with the public and it provides a conceptualization of such court engagement and a typology of this engagement.

Dr. Cordula Tibi Weber

Research Project | 01/12/2018 - 30/06/2022

Latin American Courts Going Public: Institutional Innovations for Social Participation in the Judicial Decision-Making Process

Since two decades, constitutional and supreme courts in Latin America increasingly have been engaging with the public: for instance, they include the perspectives of civil society through public hearings or extensively use social media to inform about their work. This new court behavior stands in stark contrast to the traditional image of the judges as distant from the people and it could potentially have strong effects on the role of courts in the political system and the quality of democracy. This project is the first to investigate this phenomenon in a comparative perspective for all democratic Latin American countries.
DFG, 2018-2022

Research Project | 01/01/2014 - 01/12/2018

The Institutional Presidency in Latin America

This project analysed the development of the institutional Presidency in Latin America after the processes of re-democratisation in the 1980s. The Institutional Presidency (IP) refers to the bulk of agencies that directly support the chief of the executive in his/her governing tasks. The IP is part of the "executive toolbox" that is available to heads of state for building legislative majorities. Our analysis highlighted the strategic redesign of the bureaucratic structures of the presidential office initiated by presidents.
DAAD/CAPES, 2014-2018

Research Project | 01/01/2011 - 31/12/2016

Judicial (In)dependence in New Democracies. Courts, Presidents and Legislatures in Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa

The study of judicial independence shows the interaction among the three branches of government and concentrates, especially, on the ways in which the two elected branches – the executive and the legislature – interfere with the judicial branch. The project stresses the difficult balance between judicial independence and judicial accountability, a classical topic in political science, and analyses it in new democracies of the developing world.
Leibniz Association, 2011-2016

Latin America Advisor | Expert Comment / Guest Contribution | 02/05/2023

FEATURED Q&A: What Will Peña’s Presidency Bring to Paraguay?

Latin America Advisor | Expert Comment / Guest Contribution | 04/09/2019

Featured Q and A: Why Is Paraguay's President Seeing His Support Evaporate?

Deutsche Welle | Interview | 01/05/2013

Paraguay: El Partido Colorado vuelve al poder ¿Qué se espera del nuevo gobierno?

Conference | 26/08/2025 - 29/08/2025

Courts and Public Support

ECPR General Conference 2025, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki Organisers: European Consortium for Political Research Dr. Cordula Tibi Weber (Panelist)

Dr. Cordula Tibi Weber is chair of the panel "Courts and Public Support".

Dr. Cordula Tibi Weber

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

Prosecutors and Courts Between Law Enforcement and Rights Protection: Insights from the COVID-19-Pandemic in Chile

ECPR General Conference 2024, University College Dublin, Dublin Dr. Cordula Tibi Weber (Speaker), Prof. Dr. Mariana Llanos (Speaker)

GIGA researchers Dr. Cordula Tibi Weber and Prof. Dr. Mariana Llanos present their paper "Prosecutors and Courts Between Law Enforcement and Rights Protection: Insights from the COVID-19-Pandemic in Chile" at the ECPR General Conference 2025. The presentation is part of the panel "Quantifying Judicial Impact: Selection, Process, and Authority".

Dr. Cordula Tibi Weber

Prof. Dr. Mariana Llanos

Co-Leader of the GIGA Institute for Latin American Studies (ad interim)

University of Bayreuth | 18/06/2025

Courts in Latin America: Independence, Public Support & Resistance

Organiser: University of Bayreuth Dr. Cordula Tibi Weber (Speaker)

Latin American high courts face executive and legislative attacks, from court-packing to autonomy-limiting reforms. The lecture explored these threats and showed how courts resist through court openness, building public support to safeguard their independence.

Dr. Cordula Tibi Weber

Dr. Cordula Tibi Weber

Short CV

Current Research

Countries and Regions

Research Programmes

Memberships

Dissertation

Dr. Cordula Tibi Weber

Publications

Latin America: Germany’s Indispensable Partner

Public Trust, Judicial Independence and Social Media Engagement of Latin American High Courts

Going Public: A Strategy to Increase Trust and to Protect Independence

How and Why Do Courts Tweet?: An Explorative Study of Latin American High Courts

Latin American Courts Going Public: A Comparative Assessment

Research Projects

Latin American Courts Going Public: Institutional Innovations for Social Participation in the Judicial Decision-Making Process

The Institutional Presidency in Latin America

Judicial (In)dependence in New Democracies. Courts, Presidents and Legislatures in Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa

Media Contributions

FEATURED Q&A: What Will Peña’s Presidency Bring to Paraguay?

Featured Q and A: Why Is Paraguay's President Seeing His Support Evaporate?

Paraguay: El Partido Colorado vuelve al poder ¿Qué se espera del nuevo gobierno?

Lectures

Courts and Public Support

Prosecutors and Courts Between Law Enforcement and Rights Protection: Insights from the COVID-19-Pandemic in Chile

Courts in Latin America: Independence, Public Support & Resistance

Notification

Social Media