Chapter 8

Since the end of the Cold War, most non-democratic regimes are semi-authoritarian: they allow some limited and tightly controlled elections that do not threaten the ruling elite’s grip on power.  These regimes, like older authoritarian regimes, rule via some combination of repression, cooptation, and efforts to appear legitimate.  Virtually all are led by a supreme leader, who rules alone or in consultation with a small group such as a military junta.  Leaders face the “dictator’s dilemma:” their repression of the citizenry produces fear, which limits the amount of information leaders have about their political support or lack thereof.  This causes them to use overly generous cooptation of key groups to ensure their political survival, and extensive spy networks to try to overcome their knowledge shortfall.  Succession is also a problem, especially in less institutionalized regimes.

A key difference among types of authoritarian regimes is their level of institutionalization: how much government processes and procedures are established, predictable, and routinized. Authoritarian regimes make use of institutions such as the military, legislatures, judiciary, and bureaucracies, but only in a way that is meant to bolster or at least not limit executive power. Somewhat institutionalized regimes can provide forms of participation that are predictable and might at least seem to have some actual political effect. However, some extreme authoritarian systems, especially personalist ones, prefer weak institutions as a way to maintain power. Lacking institutions, citizens are extremely unlikely to engage in political activity except individually in their own self-interest, such as via patron-client networks, or when forced to do so as a show of support for the government. Citizens may also organize into social movements in an attempt to force government accountability or change. These themes are explored in case studies of China, Iran, and Nigeria.

Learning Objectives

After reading this chapter, you should understand:

• Which institutions constitute an authoritarian regime, and how they vary from democratic institutions.
   
• The various sources of threat to authoritarian leaders.
   
• Ways in which authoritarians consolidate their power.
   
• Ways in which citizen participation in authoritarian regimes varies from citizen participation in more democratic contexts.