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Gerschewski, J. (2013), „The Three Pillars of Stability: Legitimation, Repression, and Co-optation in Autocratic Regimes“, Democratization 20(1): 13–38.

Contribution to this answer

Gerschewski shows that long-term authoritarian power does not usually rest on one technique: it must justify its right to rule, to bind important people and groups to the system and to keep potential opponents under control. Legitimacy, co-optation and repression are therefore not three separate stories, but three pillars that can complement each other.

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Gerschewski, J. (2023), The Two Logics of Autocratic Rule, Cambridge University Press.

Contribution to this answer

Gerschewski goes a step further and shows that the same three means do not have to be connected everywhere in the same way: some autocracy intensively mobilizes society, emphasizes enemies and uses harder repression, while keeping other citizens satisfied and politically passive, relying more on results and milder forms of control.

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Wintrobe, R. (1998), The Political Economy of Dictatorship, Cambridge University Press.

Contribution to this answer

Wintrobe shows why the dictator uses rewards and fear at the same time: privileges and rents help him to produce loyalty, while repression increases the price of opposition. Different dictatorships also differ in how much they rely on one side and how much they rely on the other side of the relationship.

comparing several countries or cases

Dukalskis, A. i Gerschewski, J. (2017), „What Autocracies Say (and What Citizens Hear): Proposing Four Mechanisms of Autocratic Legitimation“, Contemporary Politics 23(3): 251–268.

Dukalskis, A. i Gerschewski, J. (2017), "What Autocracies Say (and What Citizens Hear): Proposing Four Mechanisms of Autocratic Legitimation", Contemporary Politics 23(3): 251–268.

Contribution to this answer

Dukalskis and Gerschewski show that authoritarian authorities not only demand obedience, but also the reason why people would consider their government justified. They highlight four ways in which they try to do this indoctrination, political passivity, the results of government and calling for democratic procedures.

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Davenport, C. (2007), „State Repression and Political Order“, Annual Review of Political Science 10: 1–23.

Contribution to this answer

Davenport shows that repression is not a constant violence against everyone: the government chooses when, according to whom and how much it will use surveillance, prohibitions, arrests or force, most often in relation to the political threat it sees. That is why intimidation can act selectively, while a large part of society experiences at the same time a completely different face of the same government.