scholarly journals Cooptation in Practice: Measuring Legislative Opposition in an Authoritarian Regime

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel L Tavana ◽  
Erin York
Keyword(s):  
Authoritarian Regime ◽  
Authoritarian Regimes ◽  
New Method ◽  
Policy Agenda ◽  
Roll Call ◽  
Roll Call Vote ◽  
Legislative History ◽  
Policy Issues ◽  
Democratic Rule

Canonical theories of legislative institutions in authoritarian regimes highlight the role of oppositions in legitimizing non-democratic rule, shaping the autocrat's policy agenda, and extracting concessions. Despite recent advances in understanding how oppositions shape larger, macro-level outcomes, surprisingly little attention has been given to the question of how legislators behave in office and how the regime manages potential opposition. In this paper, we construct a novel dataset of roll call vote records spanning the entirety of Kuwaiti legislative history---more than 150,000 votes over 53 years. We use this to develop a new method for measuring legislative opposition to and cooperation with an authoritarian regime on substantive policy issues. We then test the effectiveness of regime strategies---rents and policy concessions---for coopting potential opposition and examine the circumstances under which these these strategies are used.

scholarly journals Complementary Institutions in Authoritarian Regimes: The Everyday Politics of Constituency Service in Singapore

2015 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 361-390 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elvin Ong
Keyword(s):  
Political Science ◽  
Science Research ◽  
Authoritarian Regime ◽  
Authoritarian Regimes ◽  
The People ◽  
The Everyday ◽  
Party Members ◽  
Constituency Service ◽  
Democratic Elections

Recent political science research has suggested that autocrats adopt a variety of institutions such as nominally democratic elections and ruling parties to buttress authoritarian durability. In this article I investigate the role of constituency service in an authoritarian regime. I argue that Singapore's Meet-the-People Sessions (MPS) is a complementary institution that can serve to mitigate the weaknesses of other authoritarian institutions, thereby entrenching authoritarianism, rather than serve as a form of democratic representation. First, it is a mechanism to gain valuable everyday information about grievances within the population, thereby allowing the ruling People's Action Party (PAP) to formulate policies and effectively target its response. Second, it is a convenient venue to recruit and socialize ordinary party members, thus helping the PAP forestall potential party decay. Symbolically, conducting MPS is a material performance of the hegemonic ideology of elitism between PAP politicians and ordinary Singaporeans.

Turnover of leaders of authoritarian regimes: conditions, options

2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (5) ◽  
pp. 13-25
Author(s):  
Iliya Shablinsky
Keyword(s):  
Authoritarian Regime ◽  
Authoritarian Regimes ◽  
Democratic Institutions ◽  
Tight Control ◽  
Real Power ◽  
The Real ◽  
Regular Change ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Former Ussr

The article is devoted to the possibility of changing power within regimes that are considered authoritarian (or hybrid). The practice of some such regimes shows that they still allow for a real and sometimes even regular change of power, without changing their character and, in fact, without allowing the real functioning of democratic institutions. Special attention is paid to the States formed in the space of the former USSR. It is noted that the post-Soviet authoritarian regimes can be separated into a separate subspecies. The article discusses the following options for transferring power under an authoritarian regime. It is possible: 1) as a consequence of contradictions within the ruling group and the involuntary departure of the former leader; or 2) through the execution by the members of the specified group of informal arrangements that can include both the actual transfer — the actual transfer of power to a new person, and an imaginary transfer — the appointment of the regime’s new head, who remains under the tight control of the former ruler, who retains real power. The role of constitutional norms limiting the President’s tenure to two terms is specifically considered. This restriction, in particular, was established in the constitutions of almost all post-Soviet States. But the relevant rules were either canceled (as in Belarus and Azerbaijan) or ignored (as, for example, in Uzbekistan). At the same time, similar rules have played a role in Mexico and China. Separately, the article deals with cases when political transfer is triggered by the work of completely democratic institutions, such as elections or referendums which for some reason are allowed by an authoritarian leader, and leads to real democratization. In particular, the author draws attention to the experience of Chile and Brazil.

scholarly journals Policy Congruence in a Competitive Authoritarian Regime: Learning from the Angolan Case

2016 ◽  
Vol 53 (2) ◽  
pp. 201-216 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana Maria Belchior ◽  
Edalina Rodrigues Sanches ◽  
Gildo Matias José
Keyword(s):  
College Students ◽  
Golden Rule ◽  
Authoritarian Regime ◽  
Authoritarian Regimes ◽  
Relevant Factor ◽  
Policy Issues ◽  
Members Of Parliament ◽  
Democratic Regimes ◽  
Dominant Parties

Building on the theoretical proposition that congruence is as much a property to be measured in authoritarian regimes as it is in democratic regimes, the aim of this article is to understand the phenomenon of ideological and political congruence in Angola. To carry out this analysis, we rely on two original surveys, conducted in 2012 with members of parliament (MPs) and college students (voters), covering equivalent policy issues. The results, to some extent exploratory, suggest moderate levels of congruence between MPs and voters. This article contributes to the existing scholarship through a case study that escapes a golden rule in this field – i.e., it is not a democracy. Moreover, it features congruence as a potentially relevant factor in understanding dominant parties’ persistence in authoritarian settings.

Introduction: Paradoxes of Democratization in Africa

1994 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catharine Newbury
Keyword(s):  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Authoritarian Regimes ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Authoritarian Rule ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
Lively Debate ◽  
Democratic Rule ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Practical Implications

As demands for democracy have swept across the continent since 1989, dramatic change has affected states in sub-Saharan Africa. Frustrated by declining economies and the failures of incumbent governments, people from many different social strata have called for an end to authoritarian rule. Events in Eastern Europe have served as a catalyst, and donor pressures have sometimes acted to facilitate such movements; but the real impetus for change arises from internal struggles which have been incubating for several decades. In response, authoritarian states have moved to liberalize repressive structures, allow multiparty competition and move towards competitive elections. To many analysts such trends represent an important new departure that holds out promise for a more hopeful future. But others are less optimistic, noting the legacies of authoritarian systems and other structural obstacles to sustainable democratic rule. Whatever the outcome, the struggle for the future is now hotly contested.Meanwhile, these processes present a potent challenge for political and social analysis. Why are these demands for change occurring now? What is the role of institutional arrangements and groups in “civil society” in transitions from single-party authoritarian regimes towards multiparty systems? Who are the key actors and which groups are excluded? Do multiparty elections lead to greater tolerance, expanded participation, respect for the rule of law and more accountability? What is required to sustain democratic rule? These and other questions have spawned a lively debate among Africanists, a debate with important theoretical and practical implications.

The Middlemen: The Legal Profession, the Rule of Law, and Authoritarian Regimes

2015 ◽  
Vol 40 (03) ◽  
pp. 700-722 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maciej Kisilowski
Keyword(s):  
Eastern Europe ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Legal Profession ◽  
Historical Record ◽  
Authoritarian Regime ◽  
Authoritarian Regimes ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
Legal Professionals ◽  
Theory Of Fields

Scholars are increasingly interested in exploring ways to strengthen the rule of law in authoritarian states—especially when deeper political reforms are not attainable. The article contributes to this discussion by revisiting the story of the emergence of the so‐called socialist legality in the communist states of Eastern Europe. Using the historical record from Poland, the author demonstrates a previously unnoticed, yet pivotal, role of legal professionals in facilitating socialist legality's rise to prominence. Using the lenses of Pierre Bourdieu's theory of fields, the article chronicles the evolving dynamic between the legal profession, the authoritarian regime, and society. These observations challenge conventional explanations of the emergence of the rule of law in nondemocratic conditions.

scholarly journals The Meaning of ‘Limited Pluralism’ in Media Reporting under Authoritarian Rule

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 103-111 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreas Heinrich ◽  
Heiko Pleines
Keyword(s):  
Mass Media ◽  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
Authoritarian Regimes ◽  
The Political ◽  
Authoritarian Rule ◽  
Media Reporting ◽  
Policy Issues ◽  
Media Reports ◽  
Country Specific

Research on mass media in authoritarian regimes focuses more on state mechanisms of control than on actual media reporting and on moments of crises much more than on times of stable functioning of the regime. In order to shed more light on the role of journalistic mass media in authoritarian regimes, this article deals with the actual limits of pluralism in media reporting regarding policy issues in ‘ordinary’ authoritarian politics. Looking at pluralism in sources (i.e., actors being quoted) and pluralism in opinion, the article also deals with the often assumed increasing degree of pluralism from TV over print media to the Internet. This study is based on a qualitative content analysis of media reporting on export pipelines in three post-Soviet authoritarian regimes (Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan). The text corpus comprises 3,618 media reports from 38 different journalistic media outlets published between 1998 and 2011. Two major results of the study are, first, that concerning the degree of pluralism, the differences between types of media are country specific, and, second, that ‘limited pluralism’ seems to be a misnomer, as the political opposition—at least in our cases—regularly does not have a voice at all.

“There is such a situation that Comrade Svoboda is under pressure”. The Soviet leadership and the settlement of relations with Czechoslovakia. May 1969

2019 ◽  
pp. 512-519
Author(s):  
Teymur Dzhalilov ◽  
Nikita Pivovarov
Keyword(s):  
Central Committee ◽  
Secretary General ◽  
Political Agenda ◽  
The Political ◽  
Soviet Government ◽  
Soviet Leadership ◽  
Policy Issues ◽  
The World ◽  
The Common

The published document is a part of the working record of The Secretariat of the CPSU Central Committee on May 5, 1969. The employees of The Common Department of the CPSU Central Committee started writing such working records from the end of 1965. In contrast to the protocols, the working notes include speeches of the secretaries of the Central Committee, that allow to deeper analyze the reactions of the top party leadership, to understand their position regarding the political agenda. The peculiarity of the published document is that the Secretariat of the Central Committee did not deal with the most important foreign policy issues. It was the responsibility of the Politburo. However, it was at a meeting of the Secretariat of the Central Committee when Brezhnev raised the question of inviting G. Husák to Moscow. The latter replaced A. Dubček as the first Secretary of the Communist party of Czechoslovakia in April 1969. As follows from the document, Leonid Brezhnev tried to solve this issue at a meeting of the Politburo, but failed. However, even at the Secretariat of the Central Committee the Leonid Brezhnev’s initiative at the invitation of G. Husák was not supported. The published document reveals to us not only new facets in the mechanisms of decision-making in the CPSU Central Committee, the role of the Secretary General in this process, but also reflects the acute discussions within the Soviet government about the future of the world socialist systems.

Children’s Lives and Deaths in Merovingian Gaul

2020 ◽  
pp. 185-213
Author(s):  
Émilie Perez
Keyword(s):  
Social Identity ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
New Method ◽  
Recent Analysis ◽  
Age And Gender ◽  
The Past ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Grave Goods

The role of children in Merovingian society has long been downplayed, and the study of their graves and bones has long been neglected. However, during the past fifteen years, archaeologists have shown growing interest in the place of children in Merovingian society. Nonetheless, this research has not been without challenges linked to the nature of the biological and material remains. Recent analysis of 315 children’s graves from four Merovingian cemeteries in northern Gaul (sixth to seventh centuries) allows us to understand the modalities of burial ritual for children. A new method for classifying children into social age groups shows that the type, quality, quantity, and diversity of grave goods were directly correlated with the age of the deceased. They increased from the age of eight and particularly around the time of puberty. This study discusses the role of age and gender in the construction and expression of social identity during childhood in the Merovingian period.

How government-controlled media shifts policy attitudes through framing

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Jennifer Pan ◽  
Zijie Shao ◽  
Yiqing Xu
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Public Opinion ◽  
Authoritarian Regimes ◽  
Policy Positions ◽  
Policy Issues ◽  
Composite Measures ◽  
Policy Attitudes ◽  
Tv News

Abstract Research shows that government-controlled media is an effective tool for authoritarian regimes to shape public opinion. Does government-controlled media remain effective when it is required to support changes in positions that autocrats take on issues? Existing theories do not provide a clear answer to this question, but we often observe authoritarian governments using government media to frame policies in new ways when significant changes in policy positions are required. By conducting an experiment that exposes respondents to government-controlled media—in the form of TV news segments—on issues where the regime substantially changed its policy positions, we find that by framing the same issue differently, government-controlled media moves respondents to adopt policy positions closer to the ones espoused by the regime regardless of individual predisposition. This result holds for domestic and foreign policy issues, for direct and composite measures of attitudes, and persists up to 48 hours after exposure.

scholarly journals A new method for identifying the role of marital preferences at shaping marriage patterns

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-27
Author(s):  
Anna Naszodi ◽  
Francisco Mendonca
Keyword(s):  
Contingency Table ◽  
Transformation Method ◽  
New Method ◽  
Marriage Patterns ◽  
The Us ◽  
Analytical Properties ◽  
The Matrix ◽  
Transformation Methods

Abstract We develop a method which assumes that marital preferences are characterized either by the scalar-valued measure proposed by Liu and Lu, or by the matrix-valued generalized Liu–Lu measure. The new method transforms an observed contingency table into a counterfactual table while preserving its (generalized) Liu–Lu value. After exploring some analytical properties of the new method, we illustrate its application by decomposing changes in the prevalence of homogamy in the US between 1980 and 2010. We perform this decomposition with two alternative transformation methods as well where both methods capture preferences differently from Liu and Lu. Finally, we use survey evidence to support our claim that out of the three considered methods, the new transformation method is the most suitable for identifying the role of marital preferences at shaping marriage patterns. These data are also in favor of measuring assortativity in preferences à la Liu and Lu.

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