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1 - A “Perfect Dictatorship?” The Puzzle of Electoral Authoritarianism

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 November 2021

Aleksandar Matovski
Aleksandar Matovski
Affiliation:
Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, California
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Summary

Originally dismissed as inherently unstable, transitional polities, electoral autocracies have become the most widespread and resilient form of authoritarianism in the world today. Chapter 1 surveys this phenomenon and its interpretations in the literature. It also introduces the book’s core argument that electoral autocracies have thrived due to their genuine popular appeal in societies plagued by turmoil.

Keywords

electoral authoritarianism“perfect dictatorship,” elected strongman appealcrisis legitimationtyranny of the majorityneo-institutionalist paradigmperformance legitimacyconfounding influence of strongman appeal
Type
Chapter
Information
Popular Dictatorships
Crises, Mass Opinion, and the Rise of Electoral Authoritarianism
 , pp. 1 - 32
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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