Political Institutions Under Dictatorship

ISBN-13: 9780521155717 / Angielski / Miękka / 2010 / 258 str.

Jennifer Gandhi

Opis

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, 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, analyzing the way dictators utilize institutions as a forum in which to organize political concessions to potential opposition in an effort to neutralize threats to their power and to solicit cooperation from groups outside of the ruling elite. The use of legislatures and parties to co-opt opposition results in significant institutional effects on policies and outcomes under dictatorship.

Recenzje

“As the title suggests, Jennifer Gandhi’s Political Institutions under Dictatorship argues that democratic-looking institutions, particularly legislatures, are not merely “window-dressing” but essential weapons in a dictator’s arsenal… Political Institutions under Dictatorship offers a somewhat different perspective on institutions, one that draws more from a rational choice as opposed to a historical-institutionalism perspective… This account of origins is clearly inspired by rational choice and functionalism, and Gandhi uses evidence from the case studies of Kuwait, Ecuador, and Morocco in her second chapter to illustrate that her deductions are empirically supportable.” -David Art, Comparative Politics

Spis treści

1. The world of dictatorial institutions; 2. Three illustrative cases; 3. The use of institutions to co-opt; 4. Institutions and policies under dictatorship; 5. Institutions and outcomes under dictatorship; 6. Institutions and the survival of dictators.