Research framework and broader academic knowledge base
Serbia: documented application of the same framework
When does the ruling party protect the system, and when does it become a threat to the leader?
The ruling party guards the system when it connects the top with the local level, chooses successors, rewards work, punishes offenses and resolves conflicts before they become dangerous. Members then know which path they can take and why it is more worthwhile for them to stay together than to leave power.
The same organization, however, can become a threat to the leader if its managers control their own people, money and information and can agree without it. The leader therefore often tries to weaken the internal rules, bypass the party authorities and bind the functions to personal loyalty. It is a practical measure whether the party can change an important decision or choose a new leader according to its own rules, or only confirms what one person has already decided.
The party changes over time. To know whether it is a support or a threat to the leader, we need to monitor who has the money, the people and the right to make decisions.
Works supporting this answer, with their evidence type and an explanation of how they relate to the claim.
comparing several countries or cases
Magaloni, B. (2008), „Credible Power-Sharing and the Longevity of Authoritarian Rule“, Comparative Political Studies 41(4–5): 715–741.
- Contribution to this answer
- Magaloni shows that a strong ruling party stabilizes the regime precisely because it gives the elites the expected future benefits and space within the system. But it also creates organized actors who are not completely without power to the leader.
comparing several countries or cases
Brownlee, J. (2007), Authoritarianism in an Age of Democratization, Cambridge University Press.
- Contribution to this answer
- Brownlee shows that the institutionalized party can keep the elites together and limit the personalization of the regime. The party therefore simultaneously protects the system and preserves a part of the collective power against a single leader.
comparing several countries or cases
Reuter, O. J. (2017), The Origins of Dominant Parties: Building Authoritarian Institutions in Post-Soviet Russia, Cambridge University Press.
- Contribution to this answer
- Reuter shows that the dominant party connects the leader with local and economic elites and helps him to coordinate them. That is why these elites become important partners whose interests the leader cannot completely ignore.
Development and verification of measurement methods
Meng, A. (2021), „Ruling Parties in Authoritarian Regimes: Rethinking Institutional Strength“, British Journal of Political Science 51(2): 526–540.
- Contribution to this answer
- Meng shows that a strong ruling party is not only an extension of the founder: when it has its own organization and permanence, it can stabilize the regime, but also represent an actual institutional structure that outlives the individual.
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 that power sharing only works when the allies have the means to implement the deal. The institution that protects the leader from chaos therefore also gives a piece of power to the people with whom he has to rule.
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