Download or read book Authoritarianism and the Elite Origins of Democracy written by Michael Albertus and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2018-01-25 with total page 326 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book argues that - in terms of institutional design, the allocation of power and privilege, and the lived experiences of citizens - democracy often does not restart the political game after displacing authoritarianism. Democratic institutions are frequently designed by the outgoing authoritarian regime to shield incumbent elites from the rule of law and give them an unfair advantage over politics and the economy after democratization. Authoritarianism and the Elite Origins of Democracy systematically documents and analyzes the constitutional tools that outgoing authoritarian elites use to accomplish these ends, such as electoral system design, legislative appointments, federalism, legal immunities, constitutional tribunal design, and supermajority thresholds for change. The study provides wide-ranging evidence for these claims using data that spans the globe and dates from 1800 to the present. Albertus and Menaldo also conduct detailed case studies of Chile and Sweden. In doing so, they explain why some democracies successfully overhaul their elite-biased constitutions for more egalitarian social contracts.

Download or read book Competitive Authoritarianism written by Steven Levitsky and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2010-08-16 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Based on a detailed study of 35 cases in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and post-communist Eurasia, this book explores the fate of competitive authoritarian regimes between 1990 and 2008. It finds that where social, economic, and technocratic ties to the West were extensive, as in Eastern Europe and the Americas, the external cost of abuse led incumbents to cede power rather than crack down, which led to democratization. Where ties to the West were limited, external democratizing pressure was weaker and countries rarely democratized. In these cases, regime outcomes hinged on the character of state and ruling party organizations. Where incumbents possessed developed and cohesive coercive party structures, they could thwart opposition challenges, and competitive authoritarian regimes survived; where incumbents lacked such organizational tools, regimes were unstable but rarely democratized.

Download or read book Business Politics in the Middle East written by Steffen Hertog and published by Hurst Publishers. This book was released on 2013-04-25 with total page 386 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Although most Arab countries remain authoritarian, many have undergone a restructuring of state-society relations in which lower- and middle-class interest groups have lost ground while big business has benefited in terms of its integration into policy-making and the opening of economic sectors that used to be state-dominated. Arab businesses have also started taking on aspects of public service provision in health, media and education that used to be the domain of the state; they have also become increasingly active in philanthropy. The ‘Arab Spring,’ which is likely to lead to a more pluralistic political order, makes it all the more important to understand business interests in the Middle East, a segment of society that on the one hand has often been close to the ancien regime, but on the other will play a pivotal role in a future social contract. Among the topics addressed by the authors are the role of business in recent regime change; the political outlook of businessmen; the consequences of economic liberalisation on the composition of business elites in the Middle East; the role of the private sector in orienting government policies; lobbying of government by business interests and the mechanisms by which governments seek to keep businesses dependent on them.

Download or read book Decentralized Authoritarianism in China written by Pierre F. Landry and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2008-10-16 with total page 297 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: China, like many authoritarian regimes, struggles with the tension between the need to foster economic development by empowering local officials and the regime's imperative to control them politically. Landry explores how the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) manages local officials in order to meet these goals and perpetuate an unusually decentralized authoritarian regime. Using unique data collected at the municipal, county, and village level, Landry examines in detail how the promotion mechanisms for local cadres have allowed the CCP to reward officials for the development of their localities without weakening political control. His research shows that the CCP's personnel management system is a key factor in explaining China's enduring authoritarianism and proves convincingly that decentralization and authoritarianism can work hand in hand.

Download or read book Ordering Power written by Dan Slater and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2010-08-09 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Like the postcolonial world more generally, Southeast Asia exhibits tremendous variation in state capacity and authoritarian durability. Ordering Power draws on theoretical insights dating back to Thomas Hobbes to develop a unified framework for explaining both of these political outcomes. States are especially strong and dictatorships especially durable when they have their origins in 'protection pacts': broad elite coalitions unified by shared support for heightened state power and tightened authoritarian controls as bulwarks against especially threatening and challenging types of contentious politics. These coalitions provide the elite collective action underpinning strong states, robust ruling parties, cohesive militaries, and durable authoritarian regimes - all at the same time. Comparative-historical analysis of seven Southeast Asian countries (Burma, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, South Vietnam, and Thailand) reveals that subtly divergent patterns of contentious politics after World War II provide the best explanation for the dramatic divergence in Southeast Asia's contemporary states and regimes.

Download or read book Elite Capture written by Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò and published by Haymarket Books. This book was released on 2022-05-03 with total page 111 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Identity politics” is everywhere, polarizing discourse from the campaign trail to the classroom and amplifying antagonisms in the media, both online and off. But the compulsively referenced phrase bears little resemblance to the concept as first introduced by the radical Black feminist Combahee River Collective. While the Collective articulated a political viewpoint grounded in their own position as Black lesbians with the explicit aim of building solidarity across lines of difference, identity politics is now frequently weaponized as a means of closing ranks around ever-narrower conceptions of group interests. But the trouble, Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò deftly argues, is not with identity politics itself. Through a substantive engagement with the global Black radical tradition and a critical understanding of racial capitalism, Táíwò identifies the process by which a radical concept can be stripped of its political substance and liberatory potential by becoming the victim of elite capture—deployed by political, social, and economic elites in the service of their own interests. Táíwò’s crucial intervention both elucidates this complex process and helps us move beyond a binary of “class” vs. “race.” By rejecting elitist identity politics in favor of a constructive politics of radical solidarity, he advances the possibility of organizing across our differences in the urgent struggle for a better world.

Download or read book When People Want Punishment written by Lily L. Tsai and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2021-08-12 with total page 291 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Against the backdrop of rising populism around the world and democratic backsliding in countries with robust, multiparty elections, this book asks why ordinary people favor authoritarian leaders. Much of the existing scholarship on illiberal regimes and authoritarian durability focuses on institutional explanations, but Tsai argues that, to better understand these issues, we need to examine public opinion and citizens' concerns about retributive justice. Government authorities uphold retributive justice - and are viewed by citizens as fair and committed to public good - when they affirm society's basic values by punishing wrongdoers who act against these values. Tsai argues that the production of retributive justice and moral order is a central function of the state and an important component of state building. Drawing on rich empirical evidence from in-depth fieldwork, original surveys, and innovative experiments, the book provides a new framework for understanding authoritarian resilience and democratic fragility.

Download or read book Elites Non Elites and Political Realism written by John Higley and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2021-10-29 with total page 177 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This provocative and groundbreaking book challenges accepted wisdom about the role of elites in both maintaining and undermining democracy in an increasingly authoritarian world. John Higley traces patterns of elite political behavior and the political orientations of non-elite populations throughout modern history to show what is and is not possible in contemporary politics. He situates these patterns and orientations in a range of regimes, showing how they have played out in revolutions, populist nationalism, Arab Spring failures to democratize, the conflation of ultimate and instrumental values in today’s liberal democracies, and American political thinkers’ misguided assumption that non-elites are the principal determinants of politics. Critiquing the optimistic outlooks prevalent among educated Westerners, Higley considers them out of touch with reality because of spreading employment insecurity, demoralization, and millennial pursuits in their societies. Attacks by domestic and foreign terrorists, effects of climate change, mass migrations from countries outside the West, and disease pandemics exacerbate insecurity and further highlight the flaws in the belief that democracy can thrive and spread worldwide. Higley concludes that these threats to the well-being of Western societies are here to stay. They leave elites with no realistic alternative to a holding operation until at least mid-century that husbands the power and political practices of Western societies. Drawing on decades of research, Higley’s analysis is historically and comparatively informed, bold, and in some places dark—and will be sure to foster debate.

Download or read book Authoritarianism and Democratization written by Gerardo L. Munck and published by Penn State Press. This book was released on 2010-11-01 with total page 372 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A study of Argentina's military dictatorship that makes an original contribution to the broader understanding of regime structure, regime change, and transitions from authoritarian rule.

Download or read book Business Elites and Democracy in Latin America written by Juan J. López and published by . This book was released on 1992 with total page 40 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Between Military Rule and Democracy written by Yaprak Gursoy and published by University of Michigan Press. This book was released on 2017-07-06 with total page 329 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Examines military interventions in Greece, Turkey, Thailand, and Egypt, and the military's role in authoritarian and democratic regimes

Download or read book Private Wealth and Public Revenue written by Tasha Fairfield and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2015-03-05 with total page 365 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book identifies sources of power that help business and economic elites influence policy decisions.

Download or read book Authoritarian Legality in Asia written by Weitseng Chen and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2020-07-16 with total page 409 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Provides an intra-Asia comparative perspective of authoritarian legality, with a focus on formation, development, transition and post-transition stages.

Download or read book After Authoritarianism written by Monika Nalepa and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2022-09-22 with total page 355 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book shows that transitional justice succeeds when it makes transparent secret legacies of the former authoritarian regime.

Download or read book Accepting Authoritarianism written by Teresa Wright and published by Stanford University Press. This book was released on 2010-03-08 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Why hasn't the emergence of capitalism led China's citizenry to press for liberal democratic change? This book argues that China's combination of state-led development, late industrialization, and socialist legacies have affected popular perceptions of socioeconomic mobility, economic dependence on the state, and political options, giving citizens incentives to perpetuate the political status quo and disincentives to embrace liberal democratic change. Wright addresses the ways in which China's political and economic development shares broader features of state-led late industrialization and post-socialist transformation with countries as diverse as Mexico, India, Tunisia, Indonesia, South Korea, Brazil, Russia, and Vietnam. With its detailed analysis of China's major socioeconomic groups (private entrepreneurs, state sector workers, private sector workers, professionals and students, and farmers), Accepting Authoritarianism is an up-to-date, comprehensive, and coherent text on the evolution of state-society relations in reform-era China.

Download or read book Elite Rivalry Mass Killing and Genocide in Authoritarian Regimes written by Eelco van der Maat and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2024-06-18 with total page 213 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book explains how mass killing is driven by elite politics within authoritarian regimes. Mass killing and genocide defy reason and explanation. How can genocidal elites present defenceless victims as an existential threat? Why use indiscriminate killing that drives victims to coordinated resistance? Mass killing seems counterproductive, irrational, and therefore inherently ideological. By building on new insights on authoritarian politics, this book argues that mass killing is not ideological, but instead is a rational response to elite rivalry within authoritarian regimes. Mass killing is therefore not driven by rivalries between groups, but by elite rivalry within groups. In Rwanda, for example, the genocide was not driven by conflicts between Hutu and Tutsi, but by conflicts within the Hutu regime. The work demonstrates how mass killing helps elites build coalitions with groups that benefit from violence and how it divides support coalitions of rival elites. Mass killing can therefore help elites win dangerous internal rivalries. By qualitatively and quantitatively exploring elite rivalry and mass killing, this book provides a new explanation for a host of mass killings and genocides. It demonstrates that well-known genocides, such as the Rwandan and Cambodian genocides, which are seemingly ideological are instead better explained by elite rivalry. Mass killing is therefore not driven by the random madness of leaders, nor by the desire to kill an outgroup, but by the internal threats that authoritarian elites face. This book will be of much interest to scholars and students of civil wars, genocide, political violence, and International Relations in general.

Download or read book China s New Business Elite written by Margaret M. Pearson and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2023-09-01 with total page 218 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The transition from a planned to a market economy that began in China in the late 1970s unleashed an extraordinary series of changes, including increases in private enterprise, foreign investment, the standard of living, and corruption. Another result of economic reform has been the creation of a new class—China's new business elite. Margaret M. Pearson considers the impact that this new class is having on China's politics. She concludes that, contrary to the assumptions of Westerners, these groups are not at the forefront of the emergence of a civil society; rather, they are part of a system shaped deliberately by the Chinese state to ensure that economic development will not lead to democratization. This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press's mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1997. The transition from a planned to a market economy that began in China in the late 1970s unleashed an extraordinary series of changes, including increases in private enterprise, foreign investment, the standard of living, and corruption. Another result of