Authoritarian Regime Resilience Research Articles

‘Diffuse Support’ and Authoritarian Regime Resilience: Azerbaijanism vis-à-vis Azerbaijan’s Talysh Minority

Abstract This article asks what role does the official national identity discourse play in building authoritarian resilience in Azerbaijan, and how do alternative narratives of particular historical events impact such resilience-building efforts? The discourse of Azerbaijanism is a source of diffuse support legitimizing the authoritarian regime in Azerbaijan. This is largely due to the role played by the ruling family in Azerbaijanism and the emphasis that is placed upon that family’s ability to resolve internal and external threats to the developing nation-state. Alternative narrations of historical memories – such as those regarding the establishment of the Talysh-Mughan (Autonomous) Republic during the summer of 1993 – act as ‘hidden transcripts’ that shed light upon the cracks in the regime’s façade, challenging its claims to historical and other ‘truths’. In so doing, ‘hidden’ alternative transcripts challenge the legitimacy of the governing regime, testing the first of Gerschewski’s (2013) three pillars of authoritarian regime stability (i.e., legitimation, repression, and co-optation).

Dictatorship and Information: Authoritarian Regime Resilience in Communist Europe and China by Martin K. Dimitrov, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2023, xix + 470 pp.

<i>Dictatorship and Information: Authoritarian Regime Resilience in Communist Europe and China</i> by Martin K. Dimitrov, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2023, xix + 470 pp.

Den belarusiske autoritarismens seiglivethet og debatten om lokalforvaltningen

In the literature on authoritarian regimes, there is a growing recognition that authoritarianism is not necessarily a transitional phenomenon, but a form of government that is sustained by a multifaceted selection of instruments and therefore able to survive crises. In Belarus, populism and regular welfare deliveries contribute to the tenacity of the country’s authoritarianism. The sub-state level of governance is important as Belarusians’ welfare primarily is delivered at the local level. However, the local elected bodies play a minimal role, and it is in practice local departments of the central administration that make decisions locally. This manifestation of the centralism of Belarusian authoritarianism is not only challenged by the opposition in the country. Systemic publications also advocate for less central management of local politics and more power for the local, elected councils. This article presents the distinctive features of Belarusian authoritarianism and provides a detailed overview of the local level of governance in the country. The reform debate – both from the side of the regime and the opposition – is presented. The possible importance of the local level for the survival of Belarusian authoritarianism is discussed in the light of the literature on the resilience of authoritarian regimes.

Response to Lucan Way’s Review of Dictatorship and Information: Authoritarian Regime Resilience in Communist Europe and China

Response to Lucan Way’s Review of <i>Dictatorship and Information: Authoritarian Regime Resilience in Communist Europe and China</i>

Dictatorship and Information: Authoritarian Regime Resilience in Communist Europe and China. By Martin K. Dimitrov. New York: Oxford University Press, 2023. 496p. $99.00 cloth, $34.95 paper.

Dictatorship and Information: Authoritarian Regime Resilience in Communist Europe and China. By Martin K. Dimitrov. New York: Oxford University Press, 2023. 496p. $99.00 cloth, $34.95 paper.

Judging Collective Labour Disputes in People's Courts: Is There a Right to Strike?

Abstract: To mitigate collective actions arising from labour disputes, the Chinese central authority has promoted reforms regarding trade unions and the judicial system. The author examines court judgements of collective labour disputes involving strikes and finds that these reforms have led the courts to deny the right to strike through informal institutionalisation. In conjunction with the fact that political centralisation impeded trade union reforms, these reforms have not effectively enhanced the authoritarian regime's resilience.

Book Review: Dictatorship and Information: Authoritarian Regime Resilience in Communist Europe and China by Martin K. Dimitrov

Book Review: <i>Dictatorship and Information: Authoritarian Regime Resilience in Communist Europe and China</i> by Martin K. Dimitrov

Influence of elite rotation on authoritarian resilience

ABSTRACT This article proposes the use of the indicator of elite rotation to deepen the understanding of the phenomenon of authoritarian cooptation. The high frequency of changes in the ruling coalition can have a twofold effect on authoritarian regimes. On the one hand, it makes it possible to include new leaders in the ruling coalition in a timely fashion, remove potential opponents and maintain loyalty among the nobility. On the other hand, constant rotation creates a situation of high uncertainty and deprives some elites of access to previously received benefits. This study offers an empirical test of these assumptions: an analysis of all authoritarian regimes that existed between 1968 and 2010 (as well as all dictators who ruled between 1968 and 2008) leads to the conclusion that a low level of elite rotation generally contributes to the resilience of authoritarian regimes and leaders.

Pre-emptive Constitution-Making: Authoritarian Constitutionalism and the Military in Myanmar

Constitutions are an important feature of many authoritarian regimes. But what role do they in fact perform in processes of authoritarian regime stabilization and legitimation? Much of the contemporary literature focuses on authoritarian constitutionalism in transitions away from constitutional democracy. This article considers the opposite scenario: pre-emptive constitution-making as a mechanism of authoritarian constitutionalism to contain a potential transition toward constitutional democracy. This is illustrated through the case of Myanmar. Since the 1960s, Myanmar has experienced successive periods of direct military rule without a constitution, followed since 2011 by a new constitution. Adding to the comparative literature on constitutions in authoritarian regimes, this article explains how pre-emptive constitution-making limits a transition to liberal democracy and contributes to authoritarian-regime resilience. This article further identifies “military-state” constitutionalism as a variation of authoritarian constitutionalism in Myanmar. The case of Myanmar offers comparative insights into the ways constitutions are used to contain transitions to constitutional democracy and illustrates the varieties inherent in authoritarian constitutionalism.

Introduction: State capacity and elections in the study of authoritarian regimes

Studies of multiparty elections in authoritarian regimes have proliferated in recent years. Nevertheless, the available evidence remains inconclusive in terms of when, where, or why elections work to sustain or undermine authoritarian rule. The contributions to the special issue ‘State Capacity, Elections and the Resilience of Authoritarian Rule’ argue that analyzing the extent to which the effect of elections on authoritarian regime resilience is mediated through the factor of state capacity helps to solve this puzzle. This introduction lays out the analytical foundation for this discussion by reviewing key terms and concepts, and by highlighting possible theoretical connections between the state capacity literature on the one hand and the electoral authoritarianism literature on the other. Furthermore, it considers the contributions in this special issue, and points out areas of agreement and disagreement between the authors, while simultaneously placing the different arguments within the broader field of enquiry.

The Political Role of the People’s Court and Authoritarian Regime Resilience: The Revision of the Environmental Protection Law in China

This paper demonstrates how the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) designed the political role of the People’s Court for authoritarian regime resilience. In particular, the case of the revision of the Environmental Protection Law (EPL) is selected because it was the first law in China to give detailed rules for public-interest trials. To illustrate the process by which the law was made, the paper is divided into three parts: (1) the practice of local governments before the revision of the law, (2) central government inspections in the provinces during the period that the law was being made, and (3) the revision process of the EPL in the National People’s Congress. From this analysis, the paper concludes that the CCP streamlined the litigation process because it wanted to use the People’s Court system as a tool to collect and understand citizen complaints, which it could then use to manage the issues of social stability.

Gender Politics, Authoritarian Regime Resilience, and the Role of Civil Society in Algeria and Mozambique

The question of whether and how authoritarian regimes may use gender politics to preserve their rule has attracted insufficient academic attention so far. Research on state feminism shows that non-democratic regimes often enact women-friendly policies for the purpose of maintaining power. However, this finding has not been linked to the broader research on authoritarian resilience. To address this research gap, we connect recent debates on authoritarian resilience to the research on state feminism. Subsequently, we engage in a cross-regional comparison of the use of gender politics by the authoritarian regimes of Algeria and Mozambique in order to enrich both sets of theory on the basis of empirical findings. Specifically, we ask what strategies the two authoritarian regimes employ in the areas of women’s rights and gender and how these might contribute to regime resilience, focusing on the interactions between these regimes and civil society organisations (CSOs).

China's date with big data: will it strengthen or threaten authoritarian rule?

The rise of big data has brought with it enormous possibilities, for better or worse. In China, the government has been enthusiastically preparing for the coming of the era of big data. This article examines how the authoritarian regime in China has been employing big data to improve its governance and to move towards a 'Big Brother 2.0' model. The regime has combined cooptation with coercive control to exploit digital technology, in order to maximize its utility and thus maintain authoritarian rule. Moreover, existing debates on digital technology largely focus on the changing power structures between state and society, but neglect power structures within regimes and their implications for authoritarianism. This article argues that the use of massive digital data may backfire against the authoritarian regime as it may change the power structure within the state. That is to say, efforts to embrace big data may also undermine the authoritarian rule. A more accurate understanding of the Chinese authoritarian regime's resilience and vulnerability in the information age will help us grasp the essence of China's rise as a fragile global power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Official stories: politics and national narratives in Egypt and Algeria

Until the recent uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa, the resilience of authoritarian regimes seemed a fundamental feature of regional politics. While economic, political, and internal security policies are most often considered in discussions of regime maintenance, Laurie Brand introduces a new factor, that of national narratives. Portrayals of a country's founding, identity, and bases of unity can be a powerful strategy in sustaining a ruling elite. Brand argues that such official stories, which are used to reinforce the right to rule, justify policies, or combat opponents, deserve careful exploration if we are to understand the full range of tools available to respond to crises that threaten a leadership's hold on power. Brand examines more than six decades of political, economic, and military challenges in two of North Africa's largest countries: Egypt and Algeria. Through a careful analysis of various texts-history and religion textbooks, constitutions, national charters, and presidential speeches-Official Stories demonstrates how leaderships have attempted to reconfigure narratives to confront challenges to their power. Brand's account also demonstrates how leaderships may miscalculate, thereby setting in motion opposition forces beyond their control.

Why Communism Did Not Collapse: Understanding Authoritarian Regime Resilience in Asia and Europe. Edited by Martin K. Dimitrov. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2013. 386p. $99.00 cloth, $34.99 paper.

Why Communism Did Not Collapse: Understanding Authoritarian Regime Resilience in Asia and Europe. Edited by Martin K. Dimitrov. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2013. 386p. 34.99 paper. - Volume 12 Issue 2

Why communism did not collapse: understanding authoritarian regime resilience in Asia and Europe

Part I. Reform and Resilience: 1. Understanding communist collapse and resilience Martin K. Dimitrov 2. Resilience and collapse in China and the Soviet Union Thomas Bernstein Part II. Ideology and Resilience: 3. Ideological erosion and the breakdown of communist regimes Vladimir Tismaneanu 4. Ideological introversion and regime survival: North Korea's 'our-style socialism' Charles Armstrong Part III. Contagion and Resilience: 5. Bringing down dictators: waves of democratic change in communist and postcommunist Europe and Eurasia Valerie J. Bunce and Sharon L. Wolchik 6. The dynamics of contagion in the Soviet Bloc and the impact on regime survival Mark Kramer Part IV. Inclusion and Resilience: 7. Authoritarian survival, resilience, and the selectorate theory Mary Gallagher and Jonathan Hanson 8. Cause or consequence? Private-sector development and communist resilience in China Kellee S. Tsai Part V. Accountability and Resilience: 9. Vietnam through Chinese eyes: divergent accountability in single-party regimes Regina Abrami, Edmund Malesky and Yu Zheng 10. Vertical accountability in communist regimes: the role of citizen complaints in Bulgaria and China Martin K. Dimitrov 11. Conclusion: whither communist regime resilience Martin K. Dimitrov.

Are dictatorships returning? Revisiting the ‘democratic rollback’ hypothesis

Since 2007 an increasing number of articles have diagnosed ‘freedom in retreat’ and predicted a ‘return to the authoritarian great powers’. Highly distinguished scholars warn against the ‘democratic rollback’, and articles on the resilience of authoritarian regimes have appeared in the best journals of political science. Is the tide of democratization turning, and do we have to expect a new reverse wave of autocratization? This article argues that there is no hard empirical evidence that we are witnessing a trend towards re-autocratization on a global scale. The optimism of the early 1990s of a seemingly irresistible trend towards democracy is partially due to an empirical artefact caused by inappropriate underlying theoretical concepts. The overestimation of human agency and political crafting on the one side and underestimation of structural impediments for democracy on the other side contributed to this optimism, as did the thin concept of ‘electoral democracy’ or teleological speculation about the end of history. Democratic rollback does not seem to be as widespread as is sometimes claimed.

The New Institutionalism in the Study of Authoritarian Regimes

No AccessThe New Institutionalism in the Study of Authoritarian RegimesAndreas SchedlerAndreas SchedlerSearch for more papers by this authorPublished Online:Apr 2014https://doi.org/10.13109/tode.2009.6.2.323SectionsPDF/EPUB ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack Citations ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail About Previous article Next article FiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsCited byLaos7 December 2022Work for the Nation, Obey the State, Praise the Ummah: Turkey’s Government-oriented Youth Organizations in Cultivating a New Nation17 October 2019 | Ethnopolitics, Vol. 20, No. 4The Politics of Co-optation: Ethnopolitical Minority Organizations and Authoritarian Elections in the Middle East11 January 2021 | Ethnopolitics, Vol. 20, No. 2Mobilizing in a hybrid political system: the Artvin case in Turkey20 January 2020 | Democratization, Vol. 27, No. 4Toward a Theory of Political Repression3 January 2020Data-Driven Authoritarianism: Non-democracies and Big Data10 November 2018Brunei Darussalam: Malay Islamic Monarchy and Rentier State28 December 2017Lawmaking in Authoritarian Regimes: Spain and Argentina in Comparative PerspectiveSSRN Electronic JournalIntroduction30 April 2016Gender Politics, Authoritarian Regime Resilience, and the Role of Civil Society in Algeria and MozambiqueSSRN Electronic Journal, Vol. 9Why Do Military Regimes Institutionalize? Constitution-making and Elections as Political Survival Strategy in MyanmarAsian Journal of Political Science, Vol. 21, No. 2Frameworks of Political System Development'Informal Politics' and 'Informal Institutions': Conceptual Foundations, Analytical Foci and Challenges for the Study of Authoritarian and Other Political RegimesSSRN Electronic JournalCivil Society and Competitive Authoritarianism in MalaysiaJournal of Civil Society, Vol. 7, No. 1Democratic enclaves in authoritarian regimes11 May 2010 | Democratization, Vol. 17, No. 3Mexican Monetary Policy (1980-2010): Objectives, Instruments and Results (Objetivos, Instrumentos Y Resultados De Política Monetaria, México 1980-2010)SSRN Electronic Journal Download book coverVolume 6Issue 2December 2009 ISSN: 1612-9008eISSN: 2196-8276HistoryPublished online:April 2014 PDF download

How can opposition support authoritarianism? Lessons from Egypt

While many observers of politics in the Arab world hold that the emergence of political opposition would be a harbinger of democratization, this article argues that opposition can contribute to the stability and resilience of authoritarian regimes. Based on an empirical analysis of contemporary Egyptian politics, it is shown that, despite the repressive nature of the Egyptian state, political opposition has emerged in various societal contexts: political parties, human rights associations and a popular Islamist current. In order to understand this development, it is important to investigate authoritarian survival strategies ‘beyond coercion’. While militant resistance from radical Islamists has been successfully oppressed during the 1990s, the Egyptian incumbents reacted to the challenge of societal dissent by co-opting opposition forces. As a consequence, political opposition in Egypt serves functions entirely different from those in liberal democracies. It contributes to the legitimacy of the Egyptian state. Moreover, by tolerating controlled opposition, societal dissent can be better observed, channelled and moderated. From a more general perspective, political dissent exists in various settings: it prevails not only among opposition, but also within the political elite leading to a delicate juggling act of competing ideas and interests performed at the helm of the polity.