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Electoral autocracies - regimes that adopt democratic institutions but subvert them to rule as dictatorships - have become the most widespread, resilient and malignant non-democracies today. They have consistently ruled over a third of the countries in the world, including geopolitically significant states like Russia, Turkey, Venezuela, Egypt, Indonesia, Nigeria and Pakistan. Challenging conventional wisdom, Popular Dictators shows that the success of electoral authoritarianism is not due to these regimes' superior capacity to repress, bribe, brainwash and manipulate their societies into submission, but is actually a product of their genuine popular appeal in countries experiencing deep political, economic and security crises. Promising efficient, strong-armed rule tempered by popular accountability, elected strongmen attract mass support in societies traumatized by turmoil, dysfunction and injustice, allowing them to rule through the ballot box. Popular Dictators argues that this crisis legitimation strategy makes electoral authoritarianism the most significant threat to global peace and democracy.
Info autore
Aleksandar Matovski an Assistant Professor in the Department of National Security Affairs at the Naval Postgraduate School and an Associate at the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies at Harvard University. He was previously National Security Advisor in the Government of North Macedonia.
Riassunto
An essential guide to electoral authoritarianism–the most widespread, malignant and misunderstood type of dictatorship today–for scholars and students of politics, policymakers and the public. It challenges existing understandings by demonstrating that elected strongmen attract the genuine support of societies beset by turmoil and dysfunction.
Prefazione
Shows that the most widespread and malignant dictatorships today emerge by attracting genuine popular support in societies plagued by crises.
