Ousting an Autocrat: Opposition Alliances in Competitive Autocratic Regimes

• In Event: Innovative Approaches to Studying Democratic Backsliding and Resilience

Abstract

hy are some opposition parties in competitive autocratic regimes able to form a pre-electoral coalition (PEC) successfully, while others fail to coordinate? A handful of articles on autocracies highlight specific institutional characteristics and the level of repression as the primary explanatory factors in coalition formation. The existing scholarly work, however, ignores the fact that political parties are an amalgam of individuals with different interests and goals. This research argues that opposition parties successfully resolving intra-party and inter-party divisions can form a pre-electoral coalition. The argument is tested using an original dataset of PECs formed (by the opposition and incumbent) in competitive autocratic regimes.

Author

• Ozlem Tuncel, Georgia State University