Legitimacy as a capital asset of the state

Abstract

Are states confronted with ongoing threats to their political authority?' In polities where political markets are electorally contestable (i.e., political leaders are elected), there is of course the ever-present threat of political displacement via the vote. Answering this question for an autocratic political system would be far more difficult. Much would depend upon the particular conditions which characterize the relations between specific autocracies and their societies.