Smarter Authoritarianism: The Survival Tools of Dictators

• In Event: Cat and Mouse: Smarter Authoritarians, Canny Oppositions

Abstract

This paper introduces the Smarter Authoritarian Regimes (SAR) data set, which offers a systematic account of the new strategies and tools dictators have honed to preserve their power in the contemporary era. The inherent goal of smarter authoritarianism is to exemplify as many of the virtues of democracy – be it accountability, contestation, participation, or representation – without actually succumbing to democratization. Using the initial sample of all authoritarian regimes in Southeast Asia from 1974 to 2014, the SAR data set offers 24 original variables group into five domains (institutional configuration, control mechanism, information management, international engagement, and development model). Using this equilibrium conceptualization of contemporary authoritarianism, the paper shows how dictators have adapted to various endogenous and exogenous pressures to offer an exponentially more successful form of government. In this way, the paper informs our understanding of why the global rate of democratization has declined in the last decade.

Authors

• Lee Morgenbesser, Griffith University

• Erica Frantz, Michigan State University