Authoritarian Diasporas: Causes and Effects of Authoritarian Elite Dispersion

Session Submission Type: Full Paper Panel

Session Description

In new democracies, former authoritarian elites have shown a remarkable capacity to return to power. In recent years, a growing literature has examined the phenomenon of “authoritarian successor parties,” or parties that emerge from authoritarian regimes but that operate after a transition to democracy (e.g., Grzymala-Busse 2002; Slater and Wong 2013; Loxton and Mainwaring 2018). Such parties have been present in nearly three-quarters of all third-wave democracies, and have been voted back into office in over one-half of all third-wave democracies. In other countries, however, former authoritarian elites have followed a different pattern. In the lead-up to, or aftermath of, a transition to competitive elections, they have scattered into a host of political parties and/or independent candidacies. Rather than concentrate in one or two clearly identifiable authoritarian successor parties, former authoritarian elites in countries such as Brazil, Ukraine, and Kenya have migrated across the political system. The existence of these “authoritarian diasporas” suggests that it is even more common for authoritarian elites to remain influential under democracy than previously believed—and with potentially different consequences. To date, however, scholars have largely overlooked this phenomenon. Drawing on cases from Africa, Asia, postcommunist Europe, and Latin America, the papers on this panel will ask: (1) What explains this pattern of authoritarian elite dispersion? (2) What are its consequences for democracy?

Sub Unit

• Division 44: Democracy and Autocracy

Individual Presentations

• Authoritarian Diasporas: A Framework for Analysis - James Loxton, University of Sydney; Timothy J. Power, University of Oxford

• Authoritarian Experience and Electoral Success: Evidence from Kenya - Adrienne LeBas, American University; Kyle Gray, American University School of Public Affairs

• Authoritarian Diasporas in Indonesia and the Philippines Compared - Michael Buehler, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London

• Trajectories and Consequences of Authoritarian Elite Persistence - Michael Albertus, University of Chicago; Jonathan Mark Deming, University of Chicago

Chair

• Timothy J. Power University of Oxford

Discussant

• Scott Mainwaring University of Notre Dame