Chapter 10: Varieties of Dictatorship Flashcards
The three main types of dictatorship
Monarchic, military, and civilian
The two different types of civilian dictatorships
Personalist and dominant party
The two fundamental problems with authoritarian rule
Power-sharing and control
Selectorary Theory
The size of the country’s selectorate and the size of the winning coalition
Selectorate
Those with a say in selecting the leader
Winning coalition
Those in the selectorate whose support is essential for the leader to stay in office
Large winning coalitions + large selectorates
Democracies. Incentives to produce public goods. Leaders produce good government performance.
Small winning coalitions + large selectorates
Personalist and dominant-party. Incentives to provide private rewards to their winning coalition. Leaders produce poor government performance.
Small winning coalitions + small selectorates
Monarchic/military dictatorships. Produce middling levels of government performance.
Authoritarial power-sharing
Dictators never rule alone, they rely on the support from keu groups and allies
Authoritarian control
The conflict that exists betwee nthe authoritarian elite and the masses over which it rules
What can happen when a dictator leaves office?
1) Democratization
2) The same authoritarian regime may survive but under new leadership
3) Replaced by another authoritarian regime
Coups effect on democratization
Can provide a “shock” to the system and leave behind competitive elections; but the most common outcome is the establishment of a new and more repressive form of authoritarian regime
Personality cults
Designed to create citizen loyalty by producing false beliefs in the population
The benefits of personality cults, for the dictator
1) Hard for opposition groups to organize
2) Help the dictator gain a better handle on his level of societal support
3) Persuades some segments of society to become “true believers”
