Research framework and broader academic knowledge base
Serbia: documented application of the same framework
What happens to the system when all power becomes tied to one person?
When all power is attached to one man, formal institutions are less and less resolving conflicts and more and more waiting for his decision. Associates do not know whether their position depends on rules or on current affection, so they have a reason to hide bad news, compete in loyalty and prevent others from gaining influence.
The biggest problem arises with inheritance: no one knows who can safely replace the leader, who will protect the old allies and whether the new top will respect the previous agreements. That is why the system can seem unique from the outside, and be fragile and full of fear from the inside. A power focused on one person can last for a long time, but its survival depends more on the health, assessment and mistakes of that person, while the peaceful change of the top is more difficult and dangerous.
The power of one man does not have to fall quickly, just as collective rules do not guarantee peaceful change. Much depends on people around leaders, services and external support.
Works supporting this answer, with their evidence type and an explanation of how they relate to the claim.
review more research
Meng, A., Paine, J. i Powell, R. (2023), „Authoritarian Power Sharing“, Annual Review of Political Science 26: 153–173.
- Contribution to this answer
- Meng, Paine and Powell show how power-sharing institutions can limit a leader only as long as allies have the real ability to implement a deal. When this ability weakens, the space for personalization grows.
comparing several countries or cases
Meng, A. (2020), Constraining Dictatorship, Cambridge University Press.
- Contribution to this answer
- Meng shows how leaders gradually remove institutions and actors that limit them and thus move power from collective structures to their own hands. Personalization is therefore a process, not just a personality trait.
comparing several countries or cases
Brownlee, J. (2007), Authoritarianism in an Age of Democratization, Cambridge University Press.
- Contribution to this answer
- Brownlee shows that strong ruling parties and cohesive elites can prevent the regime from being completely reduced to one man. When a party organization falls apart or subordinates to a leader, personalization becomes easier.
review more research
Geddes, B., Wright, J. i Frantz, E. (2018), How Dictatorships Work, Cambridge University Press.
- Contribution to this answer
- Geddes, Wright and Frantz follow how power in different dictatorships can be concentrated over time around a single leader and how it changes relationships within regime, politics, and the way the regime ends.
comparing several countries or cases
Svolik, M. W. (2012), The Politics of Authoritarian Rule, Cambridge University Press.
- Contribution to this answer
- “Svolik shows that personalization changes the fundamental problem of power-sharing: the less a leader depends on allies and institutions, the less they have the means to punish him, and his arbitrariness becomes greater.
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