Research framework and broader academic knowledge base
Serbia: documented application of the same framework
Do all authoritarian governments operate in the same way?
Not all authoritarian authorities function the same, even when they similarly limit political competition and control of power. Somewhere the leader relies on a strong ruling party, somewhere on the army, the royal family, security services or a narrow personal circle, and somewhere there is an opposition that participates in elections under extremely unequal conditions.
It depends on who can stop the leader, how the positions and money are shared, how much open force is used and what happens when the leader leaves. That is why the same event protest, election defeat or economic crisis in different systems can produce completely different consequences. The markings help to ask the right questions, but they can not replace the description of the real power relations in a particular country.
Systems change and mix properties of multiple species. The label helps to compare, but never explains the whole country.
Works supporting this answer, with their evidence type and an explanation of how they relate to the claim.
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 show that dictatorships differ in who founded them, how the government is organized, how power is shared and how the regime is personalized. These differences strongly affect their behavior and duration.
comparison of different types of systems
Wahman, M., Teorell, J. i Hadenius, A. (2013), „Authoritarian Regime Types Revisited: Updated Data in Comparative Perspective“, Contemporary Politics 19(1): 19–34.
Wahman, M., Teorell, J. i Hadenius, A. (2013), "Authoritarian Regime Types Revisited: Updated Data in Comparative Perspective", Contemporary Politics 19(1): 19–34.
- Contribution to this answer
- Wahman, Teorell, and Hadenius show that within the authoritarian world there are different electoral, party, military, and monarchical patterns, so the unification of all autocracy into one category hides important differences.
Development and verification of measurement methods
Teorell, J. i Lindberg, S. I. (2019), „Beyond Democracy–Dictatorship Measures: A New Framework Capturing Executive Bases of Power, 1789–2016“, Perspectives on Politics 17(1): 66–84.
- Contribution to this answer
- Teorell and Lindbergh show that the basics of executive power can be different and overlap. The two regimes that act similarly on the outside can therefore rest on quite different mechanisms of coming to power and its loss.
review more research
Brancati, D. (2014), „Democratic Authoritarianism: Origins and Effects“, Annual Review of Political Science 17: 313–326.
- Contribution to this answer
- Brancati shows that the same formal institutions elections, parties, assemblies can perform different tasks in different autocracy: from information gathering to the distribution of benefits and control of political actors.
comparing several countries or cases
Svolik, M. W. (2012), The Politics of Authoritarian Rule, Cambridge University Press.
- Contribution to this answer
- Svolik shows that authoritarian systems solve two separate problems control of society and power sharing among the elites and that different institutions can be made to solve different parts of the problem.
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