Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gvvz8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T08:57:12.121Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

4 - Co-optation

from Part II - Theory

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 April 2023

Johannes Gerschewski
Affiliation:
Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung
Get access

Summary

This chapter is concerned about the role of elites in autocratic regimes. It focuses mainly on business and military elites and asks how autocracies can bind these actors to their inner sanctum. It reviews previous decades of research, highlighting the recent institutionalist turn in comparative authoritarianism, but also traces back debates about neo-patrimonialism, clientelism, patronage, and corruption. The chapter introduces the conceptual distinction between co-optation in formalized arenas like political parties and parliaments as well as in the shadowland of informality. It argues that intra-elite cohesion can be secured via reactive and preventive measures as well as by absorbing new members (widening) or by interweaving interests and instilling a feeling of reciprocity (deepening) among the elite members. The chapter ends by explicating concrete operationalization advice for empirical research.

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

  • Co-optation
  • Johannes Gerschewski, Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung
  • Book: The Two Logics of Autocratic Rule
  • Online publication: 06 April 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009199407.007
Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

  • Co-optation
  • Johannes Gerschewski, Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung
  • Book: The Two Logics of Autocratic Rule
  • Online publication: 06 April 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009199407.007
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Co-optation
  • Johannes Gerschewski, Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung
  • Book: The Two Logics of Autocratic Rule
  • Online publication: 06 April 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009199407.007
Available formats
×