Political Institutions Under Dictatorship

by Jennifer Gandhi

• ISBN13: 9780521155717
• ISBN10: 0521155711
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-07-26
• Publisher: Ingram Book Co

Summary

Often dismissed as window dressing, nominally democratic institutions, such as legislatures and political parties, play an important role in non-democratic regimes. In a comprehensive cross-national study of all non-democratic states from 1946 to 2002 that examines the political uses of these institutions by dictators, Jennifer Gandhi finds that legislative and partisan institutions are an important component in the operation and survival of authoritarian regimes. She examines how and why these institutions are useful to dictatorships in maintaining power. In their efforts to neutralize threats to their power and to solicit cooperation from society, autocratic leaders use these institutions to organize concessions to potential opposition. The use of legislatures and parties to co-opt opposition results in significant institutional effects on policies and outcomes under dictatorship.

Author Biography

Jenifer Gandhi is an assisant professor, in the Department of Political Science at Ernoy University. She received her PhD in comparative politics and political economy from New York University in 2004. Her research interests include the political institutions dictators use to maintain power and the strategies the opposition may adopt in response. Her work has appeared in Economics and Politics and Comparative Political Studies.

Table of Contents

List of Tables and Figures	p. xi
Acknowledgments	p. xiii
Introduction	p. xv
The Argument	p. xvii
The Study of Institutions in Dictatorships	p. xix
Plan of the Book	p. xxi
The World of Dictatorial Institutions	p. 1
Introduction	p. 1
What Is Dictatorship?	p. 2
Historical Usage	p. 3
Contemporary Controversies	p. 7
Who Are the Dictators?	p. 12
Monarchs	p. 21
Military Dictators	p. 25
Civilian Dictators	p. 29
Operationalization of Dictatorial Types	p. 31
Nominally Democratic Institutions	p. 34
Legislatures	p. 34
Political Parties	p. 36
Conclusion	p. 39
Three Illustrative Cases	p. 42
Introduction	p. 42
Kuwait: Strength without Institutions	p. 44
Sabah Consolidation of Power	p. 44
Merchants and the Push for Institutions	p. 46
The Majlis Movement and the Regime's Response	p. 49
Morocco: Survival with Institutions	p. 52
The Rise of Monarchical and Nationalist Forces	p. 52
Managing State-Building and Opposition	p. 55
The Battle over Institutions	p. 58
Ecuador: The Perils of Noninstitutionalization	p. 61
Prelude to Military Rule	p. 61
The Military's Agenda	p. 64
The Rise of Opposition	p. 66
Underinstitutionalization and Its Consequences	p. 68
Conclusion	p. 71
Use of Institutions to Co-opt	p. 73
Introduction	p. 73
Dictatorial Concessions	p. 74
Dictatorial Institutions	p. 77
Actors and Preferences	p. 82
Timing	p. 86
Results: Three Equilibria	p. 87
Cooperation Equilibrium	p. 87
Co-optation Equilibrium	p. 88
Turmoil Equilibrium	p. 90
Predicting Dictatorial Institutions	p. 92
Data	p. 92
Conclusion	p. 100
Appendix	p. 101
Solutions	p. 101
Comparative Statics	p. 105
Institutions and Policies under Dictatorship	p. 107
Introduction	p. 107
Which Policies?	p. 110
Civil Liberties	p. 116
Data	p. 117
Effect of Institutions	p. 122
Military Expenditures	p. 126
Data	p. 127
Social Spending	p. 132
Data	p. 133
Effect of Institutions	p. 135
Conclusion	p. 137
Institutions and Outcomes under Dictatorship	p. 139
Introduction	p. 139
Institutional Mechanisms for Economic Development	p. 142
Alternative Theoretical Frameworks	p. 146
Mobilization Power of Single-Party Regimes	p. 147
State Autonomy	p. 148
Importance of Noninstitutionalized Factors	p. 149
Institutions and Economic Growth	p. 150
Model Specification	p. 151
Data	p. 152
Effect of Institutions: Results from Random Effects Models	p. 154
Effect of Institutions: Results from Heckman Selection Model	p. 157
Conclusion	p. 160
Institutions and the Survival of Dictators	p. 163
Introduction	p. 163
Managing Political Survival	p. 165
Impact of Institutions on Survival	p. 169
Event History Analysis	p. 169
Data	p. 171
Impact of Institutions on Survival	p. 175
Conclusion	p. 177
Conclusion	p. 180
Codebook of Variables	p. 189
Bibliography	p. 195
Author Index	p. 215
Subject Index	p. 221
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