Autocracies and International Organizations

Session Submission Type: Virtual Full Paper Panel

Session Description

How do authoritarian regimes engage with and work within international organizations in ways that contribute to their own security? While recent years have seen a sustained focus on the international politics of authoritarianism, our knowledge of the impact of international organizations on authoritarian stability remains limited. Early findings suggest that international organizations can bolster authoritarian rule by offering forums for information exchange and learning, by enhancing the legitimacy of authoritarian rulers, and by offering important channels of material support to embattled dictators (Debre 2020, Obydenkova and Libman 2019).

The papers in this panel seek to take this research agenda forward by examining how international organizations may intentionally or inadvertently bolster non-democratic rule in member states. The papers focus on a range of international organizations, including global institutions such as the United Nations, as well as smaller regional organizations. They examine both formal international organizations, and informal networks of authoritarian states that cooperate on issues of global and domestic governance within these formal institutions. The panel explores a variety of mechanisms through which international organizations affect national-level regime type, including the unintended consequences of democracy promotion activities as well as more direct and intentional channels of support to authoritarian leaders. The papers also explore how authoritarian states can strategically use global organizations as a means to pursue their own regime security interests in ways that depart from the organizations’ stated norms or goals.

Finally, the panel offers a mixed-methods approach, with a combination of quantitative analysis and case study research across the papers that can shed light on the importance of international organizations for authoritarian stability. Overall, the panel includes a diverse set of scholars (from the US and Europe, junior and senior), who all have a track record of research on the topic and who offer new insights into a fast growing area of scholarship on democracy and autocracy.

Sub Unit

• Division 44: Democracy and Autocracy

Individual Presentations

• How UN Peacekeepers Respond to Host State Democratic Norm Violations - Sarah von Billerbeck, University of Reading; Birte Julia Gippert, University of Liverpool; Kseniya Oksamytna, King's College London

• Transnational Authoritarian Networks and Human Rights Protection - Maria Josepha Debre, Potsdam University

• Social Media, Self-Legitimation and Regional International Organizations - Anastassia V. Obydenkova, IBEI - Institut Barcelona D'Estudis Internacionals

• Regional Organisations as Learning Support Clubs for Autocracies - Stephen Hall, University of Bath

Chair

• Stephan Haggard University of California, San Diego

Discussant

• Stephan Haggard University of California, San Diego