lecture 4

Question 1

The reason for moving toward ever-increasing personal power is structural:

Answer 1

arise from power sharing:
- lack of credible institutional enforcement of commitments
- constant threat of resolving conflict with violence

Question 2

Autocracies are not unitary actors:

Answer 2

• Member vs. member within the seizure group/inner circle
• Inner circle vs. Dictator

Question 3

Personalism:

Answer 3

a system where power is concentrated in the hands of a single individual, typically the authoritarian leader, who exercises significant control over political, social, and economic institutions.

Question 4

seizure group and credible threats

Answer 4

better when disciplined and unified
a) Dictator can bargain separately with different factions, which weakens their bargaining position
b) Factionalism reduces the credibility of threats to dictator

Question 5

Two kinds of strategic interactions:

Answer 5

a) cooperative effort to keep everyone (= the autocratic regime) in power
b) non-cooperative effort to increase individual power and resources at the expense of others

Question 6

Problem: How to control the leader and credibly commit him to deliver to the group?

Answer 6

Since there are no formal institutions (yet), credible threat to remove the dictator is the only possibility.

A dictator who was initially only “first among equals” now has agenda-setting power and control over
resources.
Since there are no formal institutions (yet), promises he makes are not credible.
Without trust, he must increase his relative power at the expense of (some of) his allies.

Question 7

Bargaining over Distribution of Resources and Power

Answer 7

Two ways to reduce the shared amount of power:
a) Reduce the number of supporters in the inner circle
b) Reduce the amount shared, without reducing the number of supporters

Since rejection and rebellion is costly, (remaining) members may still support even if they only get little.

Question 8

as seizure groups are more factionalized…

Answer 8

less power sharing and more personalism

Question 9

Measuring Latent Personalism

Answer 9

use variables from the GWF data set
each variable takes a value of 0 or 1

Question 10

The emergence of personalist authoritarian regimes is the logical result of

Answer 10

the problems and dilemmas
inherent in authoritarian power sharing.