Competitive Authoritarianism: Hybrid Regimes After the Cold War

by Steven Levitsky , Lucan A. Way

• ISBN13: 9780521709156
• ISBN10: 0521709156
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-08-16
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

Based on a detailed study of 35 cases in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and post-communist Eurasia, this book explores the fate of competitive authoritarian regimes between 1990 and 2008. It finds that where social, economic, and technocratic ties to the West were extensive, as in Eastern Europe and the Americas, the external cost of abuse led incumbents to cede power rather than crack down, which led to democratization. Where ties to the West were limited, external democratizing pressure was weaker and countries rarely democratized. In these cases, regime outcomes hinged on the character of state and ruling party organizations. Where incumbents possessed developed and cohesive coercive party structures, they could thwart opposition challenges, and competitive authoritarian regimes survived; where incumbents lacked such organizational tools, regimes were unstable but rarely democratized.

Author Biography

Steven Levitsky is Professor of Government at Harvard University. Lucan A. Way is Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Toronto.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. xi
Acronyms and Abbreviations	p. xv
Introduction and Theory	p. 1
Introduction	p. 3
Explaining Competitive Authoritarian Regime Trajectories: International Linkage and the Organizational Power of Incumbents	p. 37
High-Linkage and Democratization: Eastern Europe and the Americas	p. 85
Linkage, Leverage, and Democratization in Eastern Europe	p. 87
Linkage, Leverage, and Democratization in the Americas	p. 130
The Dynamics of Competitive Authoritarianism in Low-Linkage Regions: The Former Soviet Union, Africa, and Asia	p. 181
The Evolution of Post-Soviet Competitive Authoritarianism	p. 183
Africa: Transitions without Democratization	p. 236
Diverging Outcomes in Asia	p. 309
Conclusion	p. 339
Measuring Competitive Authoritarianism and Authoritarian Stability	p. 365
Measuring Leverage	p. 372
Measuring Linkage	p. 374
Measuring Organizational Power	p. 376
References	p. 381
Index	p. 493
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