Research framework and broader academic knowledge base
Serbia: documented application of the same framework
Why does an authoritarian government need elections at all?
Authoritarian authorities are used for much more than counting votes. They show where the government is weak, they force local officials to prove how many people they can start, help divide the position and benefit, and create the image that the government has the right to govern.
The election campaign also reveals who is ready to oppose, who can finance the opposition and what topics bring together dissatisfied citizens. But the elections are not completely harmless to the government: they give the opposition a common date, a reason for association and the opportunity to show that the support of the government is not as much as it presents itself. Therefore, the government usually wants enough competition to make the elections useful and convincing, but not so much that the outcome becomes completely uncertain.
Elections do not have the same purpose in every system and every moment. The same choice can help the authorities, but at the same time make it more vulnerable.
Works supporting this answer, with their evidence type and an explanation of how they relate to the claim.
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Gandhi, J. i Lust-Okar, E. (2009), „Elections under Authoritarianism“, Annual Review of Political Science 12: 403–422.
- Contribution to this answer
- Gandhi and Lust-Okar explain why the authoritarian government organizes elections even though it knows it doesn’t have to lose them elections give it the appearance of legitimacy, show where support is weak, but at the same time give the opposition an opportunity to organize.
comparing several countries or cases
Schedler, A. (2013), The Politics of Uncertainty: Sustaining and Subverting Electoral Authoritarianism, Oxford University Press.
- Contribution to this answer
- “Schedler shows how electoral autocracy is trying to keep uncertainty under control: the government wants enough choice to get legitimacy and information, but not enough uncertainty to really risk a shift.
Explain how the system works
Magaloni, B. (2006), Voting for Autocracy, Cambridge University Press.
- Contribution to this answer
- Magaloni shows how the dominant party uses elections to measure support, distribute awards and maintain the belief that the regime is strong enough to be worth staying by its side. Elections therefore also help the co-ordination of the ruling coalition.
Detailed analysis of one or several cases
Blaydes, L. (2011), Elections and Distributive Politics in Mubarak’s Egypt, Cambridge University Press.
- Contribution to this answer
- Blaydes shows that controlled elections can serve the regime as a way to measure the ability and loyalty of local elites and decide who to give access to positions and rents. The electoral match thus performs tasks other than democratic change of government.
data from a large number of countries
Miller, M. K. (2015), „Democratic Pieces: Autocratic Elections and Democratic Development since 1815“, British Journal of Political Science 45(3): 501–530.
- Contribution to this answer
- Miller gives an important counterweight: the choices that autocracy introduces for its own survival can eventually build parties, expectations and organizational capabilities that later facilitate democratization. The institution can therefore also produce consequences that the regime did not want.
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