Dictators And Autocrats

Author : Klaus Larres
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 462 pages
File Size : 46,8 Mb
Release : 2021-10-31
Category : History
ISBN : 9781000467604

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Dictators and Autocrats by Klaus Larres Pdf

In order to truly understand the emergence, endurance, and legacy of autocracy, this volume of engaging essays explores how autocratic power is acquired, exercised, and transferred or abruptly ended through the careers and politics of influential figures in more than 20 countries and six regions. The book looks at both traditional "hard" dictators, such as Hitler, Stalin, and Mao, and more modern "soft" or populist autocrats, who are in the process of transforming once fully democratic countries into autocratic states, including Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Turkey, Brazilian leader Jair Bolsonaro, Rodrigo Duterte in the Philippines, Narendra Modi in India, and Viktor Orbán in Hungary. The authors touch on a wide range of autocratic and dictatorial figures in the past and present, including present-day autocrats, such as Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping, military leaders, and democratic leaders with authoritarian aspirations. They analyze the transition of selected autocrats from democratic or benign semi-democratic systems to harsher forms of autocracy, with either quite disastrous or more successful outcomes. An ideal reader for students and scholars, as well as the general public, interested in international affairs, leadership studies, contemporary history and politics, global studies, security studies, economics, psychology, and behavioral studies.

Author : Jessica L. P. Weeks
Publisher : Cornell University Press
Page : 265 pages
File Size : 54,5 Mb
Release : 2014-09-08
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9780801455230

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Dictators at War and Peace by Jessica L. P. Weeks Pdf

Why do some autocratic leaders pursue aggressive or expansionist foreign policies, while others are much more cautious in their use of military force? The first book to focus systematically on the foreign policy of different types of authoritarian regimes, Dictators at War and Peace breaks new ground in our understanding of the international behavior of dictators. Jessica L. P. Weeks explains why certain kinds of regimes are less likely to resort to war than others, why some are more likely to win the wars they start, and why some authoritarian leaders face domestic punishment for foreign policy failures whereas others can weather all but the most serious military defeat. Using novel cross-national data, Weeks looks at various nondemocratic regimes, including those of Saddam Hussein and Joseph Stalin; the Argentine junta at the time of the Falklands War, the military government in Japan before and during World War II, and the North Vietnamese communist regime. She finds that the differences in the conflict behavior of distinct kinds of autocracies are as great as those between democracies and dictatorships. Indeed, some types of autocracies are no more belligerent or reckless than democracies, casting doubt on the common view that democracies are more selective about war than autocracies.

Author : Barbara Geddes,Joseph George Wright,Joseph Wright,Erica Frantz
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 275 pages
File Size : 49,7 Mb
Release : 2018-08-23
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9781107115828

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How Dictatorships Work by Barbara Geddes,Joseph George Wright,Joseph Wright,Erica Frantz Pdf

Explains how dictatorships rise, survive, and fall, along with why some but not all dictators wield vast powers.

Author : Anne Applebaum
Publisher : Random House
Page : 0 pages
File Size : 49,9 Mb
Release : 2024-07-23
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9781802062137

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Autocracy, Inc by Anne Applebaum Pdf

All of us have in our minds a cartoon image of what an autocratic state looks like, with a bad man at the top. But in the 21st century, that cartoon bears little resemblance to reality. Nowadays, autocracies are run not by one bad guy, but by sophisticated networks composed of kleptocratic financial structures, security services and professional propagandists. The members of these networks are connected not only within a given country, but among many countries. The corrupt, state-controlled companies in one dictatorship do business with corrupt, state-controlled companies in another. The police in one country can arm, equip, and train the police in another. The propagandists share resources—the troll farms that promote one dictator’s propaganda can also be used to promote the propaganda of another—and themes, pounding home the same messages about the weakness of democracy and the evil of America. Unlike military or political alliances from other times and places, this group doesn’t operate like a bloc, but rather like an agglomeration of companies: Autocracy, Inc. Their relations are not based on values, but are rather transactional, which is why they operate so easily across ideological, geographical, and cultural lines. In truth, they are in full agreement about only one thing: Their dislike of us, the inhabitants of the democratic world, and their desire to see both our political systems and our values undermine. That shared understanding of the world—where it comes from, why it lasts, how it works, how the democratic world has unwittingly helped to consolidate it, and how we can help bring it down—is the subject of this book.

Author : Masaaki Higashijima
Publisher : University of Michigan Press
Page : 498 pages
File Size : 50,5 Mb
Release : 2022-06-07
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9780472902750

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The Dictator's Dilemma at the Ballot Box by Masaaki Higashijima Pdf

Contrary to our stereotypical views, dictators often introduce elections in which they refrain from employing blatant electoral fraud. Why do electoral reforms happen in autocracies? Do these elections destabilize autocratic rule? The Dictator’s Dilemma at the Ballot Box argues that strong autocrats who can garner popular support become less dependent on coercive electioneering strategies. When autocrats fail to design elections properly, elections backfire in the form of coups, protests, and the opposition’s stunning election victories. The book’s theoretical implications are tested on a battery of cross-national analyses with newly collected data on autocratic elections and in-depth comparative case studies of the two Central Asian republics of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.

Author : Bruce Bueno de Mesquita,Alastair Smith
Publisher : PublicAffairs
Page : 354 pages
File Size : 40,6 Mb
Release : 2011-09-27
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9781610390453

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The Dictator's Handbook by Bruce Bueno de Mesquita,Alastair Smith Pdf

A groundbreaking new theory of the real rules of politics: leaders do whatever keeps them in power, regardless of the national interest. As featured on the viral video Rules for Rulers, which has been viewed over 3 million times. Bruce Bueno de Mesquita and Alastair Smith's canonical book on political science turned conventional wisdom on its head. They started from a single assertion: Leaders do whatever keeps them in power. They don't care about the "national interest"-or even their subjects-unless they have to. This clever and accessible book shows that democracy is essentially just a convenient fiction. Governments do not differ in kind but only in the number of essential supporters, or backs that need scratching. The size of this group determines almost everything about politics: what leaders can get away with, and the quality of life or misery under them. The picture the authors paint is not pretty. But it just may be the truth, which is a good starting point for anyone seeking to improve human governance.

Author : Daniel Treisman,Sergei Guriev
Publisher : Princeton University Press
Page : 368 pages
File Size : 46,5 Mb
Release : 2023-04-04
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9780691247618

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Spin Dictators by Daniel Treisman,Sergei Guriev Pdf

A New Yorker Best Book of the Year A Foreign Affairs Best Book of the Year An Atlantic Best Book of the Year A Financial Times Best Politics Book of the Year How a new breed of dictators holds power by manipulating information and faking democracy Hitler, Stalin, and Mao ruled through violence, fear, and ideology. But in recent decades a new breed of media-savvy strongmen has been redesigning authoritarian rule for a more sophisticated, globally connected world. In place of overt, mass repression, rulers such as Vladimir Putin, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and Viktor Orbán control their citizens by distorting information and simulating democratic procedures. Like spin doctors in democracies, they spin the news to engineer support. Uncovering this new brand of authoritarianism, Sergei Guriev and Daniel Treisman explain the rise of such “spin dictators,” describing how they emerge and operate, the new threats they pose, and how democracies should respond. Spin Dictators traces how leaders such as Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew and Peru’s Alberto Fujimori pioneered less violent, more covert, and more effective methods of monopolizing power. They cultivated an image of competence, concealed censorship, and used democratic institutions to undermine democracy, all while increasing international engagement for financial and reputational benefits. The book reveals why most of today’s authoritarians are spin dictators—and how they differ from the remaining “fear dictators” such as Kim Jong-un and Bashar al-Assad, as well as from masters of high-tech repression like Xi Jinping. Offering incisive portraits of today’s authoritarian leaders, Spin Dictators explains some of the great political puzzles of our time—from how dictators can survive in an age of growing modernity to the disturbing convergence and mutual sympathy between dictators and populists like Donald Trump.

Author : Sheena Chestnut Greitens
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 347 pages
File Size : 45,9 Mb
Release : 2016-08-16
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9781107139848

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Dictators and their Secret Police by Sheena Chestnut Greitens Pdf

This book explores the secret police organizations of East Asian dictators: their origins, operations, and effects on ordinary citizens' lives.

Author : Milan W. Svolik
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 253 pages
File Size : 45,6 Mb
Release : 2012-09-17
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9781107024793

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The Politics of Authoritarian Rule by Milan W. Svolik Pdf

What drives politics in dictatorships? Milan W. Svolik argues authoritarian regimes must resolve two fundamental conflicts. Dictators face threats from the masses over which they rule - the problem of authoritarian control. Secondly from the elites with whom dictators rule - the problem of authoritarian power-sharing. Using the tools of game theory, Svolik explains why some dictators establish personal autocracy and stay in power for decades; why elsewhere leadership changes are regular and institutionalized, as in contemporary China; why some dictatorships are ruled by soldiers, as Uganda was under Idi Amin; why many authoritarian regimes, such as PRI-era Mexico, maintain regime-sanctioned political parties; and why a country's authoritarian past casts a long shadow over its prospects for democracy, as the unfolding events of the Arab Spring reveal. Svolik complements these and other historical case studies with the statistical analysis on institutions, leaders and ruling coalitions across dictatorships from 1946 to 2008.

Author : Anonim
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 0 pages
File Size : 41,8 Mb
Release : 2023
Category : Electronic
ISBN : 1637004443

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GREAT LIVES FROM HISTORY by Anonim Pdf

Author : Daniel Treisman,Sergei Guriev
Publisher : Princeton University Press
Page : 368 pages
File Size : 53,6 Mb
Release : 2023-04-04
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9780691224473

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Spin Dictators by Daniel Treisman,Sergei Guriev Pdf

How a new breed of dictators holds power by manipulating information and faking democracy Hitler, Stalin, and Mao ruled through violence, fear, and ideology. But in recent decades a new breed of media-savvy strongmen has been redesigning authoritarian rule for a more sophisticated, globally connected world. In place of overt, mass repression, rulers such as Vladimir Putin, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and Viktor Orbán control their citizens by distorting information and simulating democratic procedures. Like spin doctors in democracies, they spin the news to engineer support. Uncovering this new brand of authoritarianism, Sergei Guriev and Daniel Treisman explain the rise of such “spin dictators,” describing how they emerge and operate, the new threats they pose, and how democracies should respond. Spin Dictators traces how leaders such as Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew and Peru’s Alberto Fujimori pioneered less violent, more covert, and more effective methods of monopolizing power. They cultivated an image of competence, concealed censorship, and used democratic institutions to undermine democracy, all while increasing international engagement for financial and reputational benefits. The book reveals why most of today’s authoritarians are spin dictators—and how they differ from the remaining “fear dictators” such as Kim Jong-un and Bashar al-Assad, as well as from masters of high-tech repression like Xi Jinping. Offering incisive portraits of today’s authoritarian leaders, Spin Dictators explains some of the great political puzzles of our time—from how dictators can survive in an age of growing modernity to the disturbing convergence and mutual sympathy between dictators and populists like Donald Trump.

Author : Aleksandar Matovski
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 319 pages
File Size : 43,7 Mb
Release : 2021-11-25
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9781316517802

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Popular Dictatorships by Aleksandar Matovski Pdf

Shows that the most widespread and malignant dictatorships today emerge by attracting genuine popular support in societies plagued by crises.

Author : Alexander Dukalskis
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 265 pages
File Size : 48,7 Mb
Release : 2021
Category : History
ISBN : 9780197520130

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Making the World Safe for Dictatorship by Alexander Dukalskis Pdf

Making the World Safe for Dictatorship is about how authoritarian states manage their image abroad using both "promotional" tactics of persuasion and "obstructive" tactics of repression. All states attempt to manage their global image to some degree, but authoritarian states in the post-Cold War era have special incentives to do so given the predominance of democracy as an international norm. Alexander Dukalskis looks at the tactics that authoritarian states use for image management and the ways in which their strategies vary from one state to another. Moreover, Dukalskis looks at the degree to which some authoritarian states succeed in using image management to enhance their internal and external security, and, in turn, to make their world safe for dictatorship.

Author : Gene Sharp
Publisher : Albert Einstein Institution
Page : 85 pages
File Size : 41,6 Mb
Release : 2008
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9781880813096

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From Dictatorship to Democracy by Gene Sharp Pdf

A serious introduction to the use of nonviolent action to topple dictatorships. Based on the author's study, over a period of forty years, on non-violent methods of demonstration, it was originally published in 1993 in Thailand for distribution among Burmese dissidents.

Author : William J. Dobson
Publisher : Anchor
Page : 354 pages
File Size : 51,7 Mb
Release : 2013-03-12
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9780307477552

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The Dictator's Learning Curve by William J. Dobson Pdf

In this riveting anatomy of authoritarianism, acclaimed journalist William Dobson takes us inside the battle between dictators and those who would challenge their rule. Recent history has seen an incredible moment in the war between dictators and democracy—with waves of protests sweeping Syria and Yemen, and despots falling in Egypt, Tunisia, and Libya. But the Arab Spring is only the latest front in a global battle between freedom and repression, a battle that, until recently, dictators have been winning hands-down. The problem is that today’s authoritarians are not like the frozen-in-time, ready-to-crack regimes of Burma and North Korea. They are ever-morphing, technologically savvy, and internationally connected, and have replaced more brutal forms of intimidation with subtle coercion. The Dictator’s Learning Curve explains this historic moment and provides crucial insight into the fight for democracy.