Lecture 12 Autocratisation

Question 1

What is a common misconception about power in autocracies and democracies?

Answer 1

The misconception is that power in autocracies lies fully with the leader, and in democracies, it lies fully with the citizens. In reality, politicians in democracies have significant power with a mandate from the people, and autocratic leaders need elite and some citizen support to avoid revolution.

Question 2

What are the three generations of research on authoritarianism?

Answer 2

1. Totalitarianism paradigm (until 1965): Focus on ideology, terror, and strong parties.
2. Rise of authoritarianism (1965-1980s): Focus on socio-economic factors, neo-patrimonialism, clientelism, patronage, and corruption.
3. Institutional approaches to authoritarianism (1999-2000s): Focus on using democratic institutions to stabilize or legitimize rule.

Question 3

What are the key words associated with each generation of authoritarianism research?

Answer 3

1. Totalitarianism: Ideology, Terror
2. Authoritarianism: Neo-patrimonialism, Role of Money, Modernisation Theory
3. Institutionalism: Institutions

Question 4

How can authoritarian regimes be categorized?

Answer 4

Based on who rules, the degree of competition for power, and how power is obtained.

Question 5

What are the different types of rulers in authoritarian regimes?

Answer 5

• Monarchy: Single leader based on hereditary succession
• Military regime: Group of people from the military
• Party regime: Party in power (single-party or multi-party)
• Personalist regime: Single leader based on personal exceptionality

Question 6

What are the different degrees of competition for power in authoritarian regimes?

Answer 6

• Closed autocracy: No elections (e.g., China)
• Hegemonic autocracy: Elections, but other parties cannot win (e.g., Russia)
• Competitive autocracy: Rigged elections with a small chance for opposition to win (e.g., Turkey)

Question 7

How is power obtained in authoritarian regimes?

Answer 7

• Hereditary succession or lineage (monarchy)
• Use or threatened use of military force (military regime)
• Popular election (electoral regime)
• No-party, single-party, or limited multi-party (dominant-party or competitive-party regimes)

Question 8

What are the statistics of regime types over the past 80 years?

Answer 8

Monarchies have remained stable (around 10), personalist regimes are rising, single-party and military regimes peaked during the Cold War and declined after.

Question 9

What are the most stable regime types?

Answer 9

• Monarchies: 25.4 years
• Democracies: 17.5 years
• One-party regimes: 17.8 years
• Military regimes: 11.1 years
• Multi-party regimes: 5-9 years

Question 10

What are the sources of support for an autocrat?

Answer 10

Genuine support (legitimacy), fabricated support (manipulation and co-optation), and oppression.

Question 11

What are Gerschewski’s three mechanisms for authoritarian stability?

Answer 11

1. Legitimation (performance and ideational)
2. Repression (high-intensity and low-intensity)
3. Co-optation (formal and informal)

Question 12

How can autocrats control elites, citizens, institutions, and the economy?

Answer 12

• Elites: Use carrots and sticks, create dependency, surveillance, targeted oppression
• Citizens: Generate genuine support, fabricate support, use targeted oppression
• Institutions: Capture media, concentrate power, tweak elections, disperse power, manage elite dissent
• Economy: Capture natural resources, state involvement, ensure dependency of companies and citizens

Question 13

What causes authoritarian regime breakdowns?

Answer 13

Breakdown occurs when one or more sources of support fall away, leading to protests, opposition resistance, or intra-elite splits. This does not necessarily lead to democratisation and can result in a new authoritarian regime, continuation under a new leader, or civil war.