Authoritarian Transition Research Articles

“Competitive Rent-Seeking” in the Kim Jong Un Era of North Korea

This article presents the “Competitive Rent-Seeking Model” that accounts for how reform policies paved the way for sustainable economic growth in “authoritarian transition economies” despite widespread corruption. Competitive rent-seeking refers to the process whereby the entry barrier to rent-generating economic activities, once monopolized by a small number of vested interests, has been lowered inviting more potential rent-seekers into the system. This was accomplished by enacting decentralizing and market-friendly reform policies that in turn exacerbated corruption but boosted production efficiency leading to improved social welfare. The model is exemplified by the Chinese and Vietnamese experiences during the 1980s. Furthermore, this article demonstrates that the model is applicable to the North Korean economy under Kim Jong Un’s economic reform policy of the “Socialist System of Responsible Business Operation in Economic Management” initiated in 2014.

The myth of populist constitutionalism in Hungary and Poland: Populist or authoritarian constitutionalism?

Abstract The article seeks to answer the question whether the analytical framework of “populist constitutionalism” adequately describes and explains the constitutional changes that the Hungarian and Polish populist governments have implemented, respectively, since 2010 and 2015. After presenting the similarities and differences between the Hungarian and Polish constitutional developments, the article discusses the conceptual attempts of populist constitutionalism, identifying the primary and secondary characteristics that the literature attributes to this phenomenon. The main point of the article is that these criteria only partially characterize the recent constitutional changes in these two countries, and that the features that do really prevail are more indicative of an unmarked authoritarian transition than of a new, specific version of constitutionalism. It describes the different reasons for the misapplication of constitutional populism to these two countries. Finally, it explains how counterproductive the misconception of populist constitutionalism is for understanding the recent constitutional development in Hungary and Poland.

Judicial Systems and Authoritarian Transitions

For several decades, development policy specialists and donor agencies have championed investment in the judicial systems of developing countries to promote economic growth and, eventually, democracy. The assumption of a causal link among these three phenomena motivates donors’ investments in the physical and human capacity of the legal system. Some reforms are narrowly focused—better enforcement of property rights and contract law—conducive to enhanced trade and investment. Although these narrow reform programs imply that political liberalisation is an ultimate objective, studies are unable to substantiate causality between the rule of law, economic growth and democracy [Carothers (2003)]. Autocratic regimes may establish courts to protect the property rights of regime insiders and to expropriate the rights of outsiders. In our view a rule of law will have emerged only once the state has achieved legitimacy in the hearts and minds of citizens. The idea that better rule of law would generate economic growth, which would in turn build constituencies for democratic reforms will be questioned in this paper. An alternative view will be suggested, most notably the alignment of national identity with the institutions of the state is critical to establishing a rule of law.

Stepping Into the Same River Twice? Judicial Independence in Old and New Authoritarianism

AbstractThe study seeks to answer the question of whether there are similarities between the methods used to limit judicial independence in Hungary during the last phase of the communist regime, i.e. before the democratic transition, and today, when many scholars believe that an authoritarian transition is taking place in this country. For this purpose, I argue that despite the undeniable fundamental differences between the political and legal system of these two periods, the mechanisms and ways as the independence of judiciary were and are influenced by the government can plausibly be compared. The analysis seems to support this presumption: both the formal instruments and the informal channels of influence in the hands of the ruling political forces show a number of similarities. Thus, even if there are differences in the degree of their application and result, from centralizing the system of judicial administration to replacing court leaders with politically loyal people there are a number of instruments that enable central government to influence the judiciary, while maintaining the appearance of judicial independence.

Social coexistence and violence during Turkey’s authoritarian transition

ABSTRACT The recent authoritarian turn and democratic backsliding around the world have raised concerns over increased instability and violent conflicts. Turkey is a striking example of this authoritarian turn with the transition from a multiparty democracy to a competitive authoritarian regime. With seven in-depth case studies from Turkey, this special issue sheds light upon the changing dynamics of violence and social coexistence in countries that experience democratic decline from a transdisciplinary perspective. In this introductory article, we briefly trace the authoritarian transition and societal fault lines in Turkey, discuss the case studies presented in this special issue, and draw out our contribution to the literature.

Europeanisation under authoritarian rule: Greek business and the hoped-for transition to electoral politics, 1967–1974

ABSTRACTThe article addresses the domestic impact of the freezing of the Greek association with the European Economic Community (EEC) on business–government relations during the colonels’ dictatorship in Greece (1967–1974). Focusing on the Federation of Greek Industries (SEV), the author argues that in the face of the Europeanisation of Greek industry, Greek business embarked upon a strategy prioritising liberalisation as a means towards rapprochement with the EEC. But this strategy was not part of a pro-democracy agenda. On the contrary, seeking a viable political regime and future accession to the EEC, SEV supported an abortive authoritarian transition to electoral politics in 1973.

(Des)ordem constitucional: engrenagens da máquina ditatorial no Brasil pós-64

Elaborar uma narrativa sobre a recente democracia no Brasil implica, necessariamente, conhecer as práticas constitucionais autoritárias pós-64. Esse aparente paradoxo desfaz-se ao pensarmos que as práticas autoritárias desvelam a construção de um tempo de arbítrios que, de certa maneira, ainda permanece. É a partir da identificação das engrenagens ditatoriais que podemos verificar alguns dos maiores desafios e riscos à consolidação do constitucionalismo democrático brasileiro. Este artigo parte da análise da (des)ordem constitucional brasileira criada pelo regime militar - e seus juristas - para compreender em que medida essa (des)ordem tem sido significativa na transição após o regime autoritário.

El discurso en la estrategia autoritaria de Alberto Fujimori

Este artículo trata de mostrar cómo el expresidente peruano Alberto Fujimori pasó del triunfo democrático en las elecciones de 1990, en un ambiente de total publicidad, al progresivo control autoritario de las relaciones políticas caracterizado por el aumento del secreto. Esta "transición autoritaria" ha dejado su registro público, pese a las estrategias de ocultamiento, en los mensajes que el presidente de la república dirigió a la nación cada 28 de julio con motivo de la celebración de la Independencia. En los once mensajes que dirigió Fujimori al país, se encuentran las marcas de su estrategia política general: la consolidación de su imagen de salvador de la nación con la anuencia del pueblo; el fortalecimiento de las instancias ejecutivas del Estado sin necesidad de fiscalización política o judicial, y la polarización de las identidades políticas en una supuesta comunicación directa entre el presidente y las mayorías del Perú. Mediante el análisis sistemático de los mensajes presidenciales, se describe cómo el presidente Fujimori ejerció el discurso político como acción privilegiada durante sus años de gobierno para buscar una legitimidad que prescindiera de la deliberación política.

«Authoritarian Transition of Peripheral Countries of Interwar Europe: Politological Analysis»

The author ponders on the causes of the crisis of democraticmodels in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, South-East Europe and the Baltic states. Having analysed a complex of factors, she comes to the conclusion that the authoritarian transition of European peripheral countries in the interwar period (1918—1939) was appropriate. While all authoritarian regimes of the period in the region under study were characterized by three foundations of authoritarianism– Fuhrerprinzip, ideas of constructing nationstate and nationalism, specific traits allow to distinguish between three clusters of authoritarian regimes in the interwar Europe: military-bureaucratic, corporate (guild) and pre-totalitarian (fascist mobilization) ones. However, the main conclusion is: the complex economic, political and socio-cultural situation in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, South-East Europe and the Baltic states aggravated by the consequences of globalization and world financial crisis is able to provoke recurrences of authoritarian transition.

Labour militancy in Taiwan: Export integration vs authoritarian transition

Taiwan started export industrialization in the early 1960s. After twenty-five years of steady economic growth, this society for the first time witnessed extensive media coverage of labor militancy in the late 1980s. How can this occurrence be appropriately explained? Does it confirm the inevitability of labor militancy under an export economy? In search of answers to these questions, this article aims to achieve two goals. Firstly, it attempts to show that though the early Latin American experience of export integration was usually accompanied by labor militancy, export industrialization itself would not always be associated with the deterioration of living standards and increasing material hardships. Secondly, it uses evidence from Taiwan's experiences to contradict the conventional argument that the export integration of an underdeveloped country into the capitalist world system would inevitably give rise to a labor movement oriented at radical revolutions.

Chile: The Authoritarian Transition to Electoral Politics

September and early October 1986 marked the culmination of a decisive shift in Chilean politics that has enormous significance for the future evolution of the country. In a rapid redefinition of positions, the Alianza Democratica (Democratic Alliance, or AD),1 a conglomeration of seven opposition parties grouping centrist, rightist, and social democrats, broke decisively with the left-wing coalition, the Movimento Democratica Popular (Democratic Popular Movement, or MDP),2 and quickly moved toward a restatement of its tactics and relationship with the Pinochet dictatorship and his 1980 Constitution. The new line adopted by the party elite of the AD transfers the axis of opposition struggle from the streets to downtown meeting rooms and replaces the actions of hundreds of thousands of shantytown dwellers, trade unionists, women, professionals, and students with the negotiating talent of a handful of party officials. The new tactics of the AD displaces social mobilization of the masses in favor of politicalelectoral maneuvers of Chile's political class. Thus, to meet the conditions for fruitful dialogue with the armed forces, the AD has ended up renouncing past alliances with the MDP, denouncing the self-defense activity of the popular movement, disarticulating mass protests, promoting peaceful petitioning, and accepting Pinochet's 1980 Constitution and his time schedule for a plebiscite in 1989.3 What is central to the political shifts among the Chilean opposition are not merely tactical issues but basic questions about the nature and

Decentralized Industrialization and Rural Development: Evidence from Taiwan

After 3 decades of growth, widespread poverty persists in underdeveloped countries. One of the major characteristics of the poor is that a disproportionate number of them are located in rural areas. Since a large number of the rural poor have limited or no access to productive agricultural land, raising agricultural productivity alone may be insufficient to reduce rural poverty. Consequently, attention has now turned to rural nonfarm activities as a possible source of rural employment and income. This paper uses evidence from Taiwan to show that the level of rural nonfarm ac-