lecture 2

Question 1

Classifying autocracies

Answer 1

Residual category – whatever is not a democracy
Autocracies have a high institutional heterogeneity
“whereas democracies are all alike, each dictatorship is undemocratic in its own way” (Svolik 2012)

Questionable relevance of formal institutions
Autocratic institutions cannot be taken at face value
“whether and which institutions actually matter for the conduct of authoritarian politics is far from
apparent and neither is who matters.” (Svolik 2012)

Question 2

democratic (on scale)

Answer 2

Liberal Democracy: Electoral Democracy plus rule of law and effective control over executive.
Electoral Democracy: Free and fair elections.

Question 3

autocratic (on scale)

Answer 3

Electoral Autocracy: Elections, but unfair and further irregularities or institutional restrictions.

Closed Autocracy: Executive is not elected or no electoral competition.
(e.g. V-Dem Project)

Question 4

Minimalist Definition of Autocracy/Dictatorship

Answer 4

An independent country that fails at least one of the two criteria for democracy:
a) free and competitive legislative elections
b) executive is elected in free and competitive presidential elections or indirectly by a legislature

(Others would add successful transition of power or the existence of civil liberties to the list.)

Question 5

Autocracy is an entirely different animal

Answer 5

Remember the lack of an independent authority that enforces the institutional rules of the game and
the constant threat of violence.

Question 6

Autocratic spell:

Answer 6

Uninterrupted period of autocratic rule
Most autocratic spells begin in newly independent countries (e.g. Cambodia in 1953) or after democratic
breakdown (e.g. Chile in 1973).
Most autocratic spells end in transition to democracy.

Question 7

Typologies of Authoritarian Politics

Answer 7

Military dictatorship
Single-party dictatorships
Personalist regimes

Question 8

Problem with typologies

Answer 8

a) Collapses and classifies based on conceptually distinct dimensions of authoritarian politics
b) Ideal types are neither mutually exclusive nor collectively exhaustive
As a result, there are issues with validity and reliability.

Question 9

analyzing authoritarian politics:

Answer 9

formal institutions may be utterly meaningless.
Instead, how autocratic leaders actually assume and lose power may be much more informative.

autocratic spells on the country level
leadership tenures on the leader level
regime durations on the regime/ruling coalition level

Question 10

regime

Answer 10

(often informal) rules that identify the group from which leaders can come
and that determine leadership choice and policy decisions.

Question 11

Authoritarian Regime Data Set (GWF)

Answer 11

includes 280 autocratic regimes in the period 1946 to 2010 in independent countries with more
than one million inhabitants.
Emphasis is on identifying the endings and beginnings of autocratic regimes.
Also includes additional information on the leadership group (e.g. military, dominant-party, personalist, etc.).

Question 12

Strategic requirements and opportunities evolve over the different stages of seizing autocratic power:

Answer 12

Before the seizure of power
Requires discipline and secrecy
Collegial relations and responsiveness to public to ensure support

The morning after a seizure of power
Power is often achieved without a detailed plan on policy and power-sharing.
Often chaotic and uncertain.

Post-seizure organization
Mostly reflects the seizure groups’ pre-existing organizational structures, procedures and norms.