Authoritarian Institutions and the Survival of Autocrats

February 23, 2021 Jeremiah Hendren

Authoritarian Institutions and the Survival of Autocrats

Gandhi, Jennifer, and Adam Przeworski
Comparative Political Studies 40, no. 11 (2007): 1279-1301
https://doi.org/10.1177/0010414007305817

Some autocrats rule so long that they are feared even after their deaths, and others fall almost immediately. Sobhuza II reigned over Swaziland 62 years; Haile Selassie, over Ethiopia for 47 years. Even those without royal blood can hold onto power for ages: Kim Il Sung died in 1994 after 47 years in power. Yet for every Kim Il Sung, there is a Léon Cantave, the first of many who tried to take power in 1957 in Haiti: He lasted 5 days. Why do some nondemocratic leaders survive for decades, and others fall soon after taking power? [...] Autocrats face two types of threats to their rule: those that emerge from within the ruling elite and those that come from outsiders within society. Authoritarian rulers often establish narrow institutions, such as consultative councils, juntas, and political bureaus, as a first institutional trench against threats from rivals within the ruling elite. But we claim that when they need to neutralize threats from larger groups within society and to solicit the cooperation of outsiders, autocrats frequently rely on nominally democratic institutions. Specifically, partisan legislatures incorporate potential opposition forces, investing them with a stake in the ruler’s survival. By broadening the basis of support for the ruler, these institutions lengthen his tenure.

Jennifer Gandhi & Adam Przeworski

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