2022SP - POL AUTHORITARIANISM 01:790:342:01

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Politics of Authoritarian Regimes

Spring 2022

 

Course Number:  01:790:342                                                         Instructor: Xian Huang

Class Time:  Mon/Th 12:10 PM -1:30 PM                                    Office: Hickman Hall 403

Classroom:  Hickman 127                                                               Phone: (848) 932-9380 

Office hours: by appointment                                                         Email: xian.huang@rutgers.edu

 

Course Overview

The overwhelming majority of governments throughout history have been undemocratic. Despite the “third wave” of democracy after the Cold War, many authoritarian

regimes have remained surprisingly resilient. A third of the world’s countries and about

half of the world’s population still live under autocratic rule today. The study of politics is thus incomplete without careful consideration of what leads to the formation of authoritarian systems, as well as their durability within an increasingly globalized international context. The goal of the class is to help students develop a greater understanding of authoritarian regimes by starting with basic concepts, such as differentiating authoritarian regime types and their power foundations. We will then build upon these concepts to tackle more complex questions about authoritarian regimes’ ruling institutions and strategies, and the roles of media, patronage, and coercion in supporting – or challenging – authoritarian rule. At last, we will discuss a variety of issue areas under authoritarian rule, including economy, collective action, and governance.  

We will take a thematic approach to the study of authoritarian regimes, but in order to reinforce the arguments presented the lessons will be supplemented by a case study approach, through which students will contribute to the lecture and discussions by presenting the results of their case studies. The course thus combines theoretical and empirical study, lecture and class discussion, in order to dissect the characteristics of authoritarian regimes and to provide students with a rich environment to learn about the diversity of these regimes, past and present.

Prerequisites

Students may take this course without prerequisites; however, previous background in the study of comparative politics will be helpful.

Requirements and Evaluation

Lectures and reading are arranged with topical coverage. Grades will be based on class participation (20%), two quizzes (25%), case study presentation (20%), and final essays (35%).

Class Participation

It is highly unlikely you will be able to succeed on exams and assignments without regular class attendance. If you have to miss any class meeting, please use the University absence reporting website to indicate the date and reason for your absence. Each class meeting has student-participation components (e.g., group discussion, class discussion). 

Caveat on In-person Attendance

Masks must be worn during in-person class meetings; any student not wearing a mask will be asked to leave.

If you feel ill, please stay home. If you are ill on a day you are set to present, please let me know ASAP.

Quizzes

There are two in-class quizzes for Parts I and II of this course. The first quiz is open on Canvas from 12:01 am on February 11 to 11:59 pm on February 13.  The second quiz is open on Canvas from 12:01 am April 8 to 11:59 pm on April 10.

Case-Study Presentation 

Each student will select one topic for case study from the list in the Course Overview (see pg.3) and make an in-class presentation (about 30 minutes) based on the readings and own research. Sign up the topic HERE by 1/27. The presentation slides should be uploaded to the course website on Canvas no later than 5 p.m. on the day prior to the class.   

Essays

Topics for the final essays will be posted at Canvas on May 5 and the essays are due on May 8. If you would like a review on effective writing for essay tests, I recommend this website.  

Textbooks

Ezrow, Natasha, and Erica Frantz. 2011. Dictators and Dictatorships: Understanding Authoritarian Regimes and their Leaders. New York: Continuum. (ISBN: 978-1441173966)

Svolik, Milan W. 2012. The Politics of Authoritarian Rule. New York: Cambridge University Press. (ISBN: 978-1107607453)

Readings

The textbooks are available for purchase at the university bookstore; they can be ordered from Amazon.com or Barnes and Noble (bn.com) where less expensive copies are often available. The textbooks will also be put on reserve at Douglass Library Course Reserve. Other readings will be posted on Sakai. 

Academic Integrity

In accordance with Rutgers University policy on Academic Integrity, you are expected to fully comply with the school’s policies.  Please see: http://academicintegrity.rutgers.edu

Students with Disabilities

Students with disabilities who require accommodation should review the following statement from the Office of Disability Services (https://ods.rutgers.edu/faculty/syllabus).

 

 

COURSE OVERVIEW

Week 1                                    Introduction

PART I                                   Concepts, Measurement, and Theoretical Foundations

Week 2                                    Political Regimes and Measurement                                          

Week 3                                    Seizure of Power and Leadership Succession

                                                Case Study#1: Hereditary Succession (Sign up)

Week 4                                    Power Sharing

                                                Case Study#2: Personalist Dictatorship (Sign up)

PART II                                 Institutions and Ruling Strategies

Week 5                                    Political Parties

                                                Case Study#3: The Party-State in China (Sign up)

Week 6                                    Legislatures

                                                Case Study#4: “Rule of Law” in Authoritarian Regimes (Sign up)

Week 7                                    Elections        

                                                Case Study#5: Autocratic Elections (Sign up)

Week 8                                    Use of Forces  

                                                Case Study#6: Military Rule in Latin America (Sign up)

Week 9                                    Distributive Politics                       

                                                Case Study#7: The Resource Curse in Middle East (Sign up)

Week 10                                  Media

                                                Case Study#8: Is Technology a Challenge or Weapon for Authoritarian Regimes? (Sign up)

PART III                               Issues under Authoritarian Rule 

 Week 11                                 Economy

                                                 Case Study#9: Developmental State in East Asia (Sign up)

Week 12                                  Protests          

                                                Case Study#10: The Arab Spring (Sign up)

Week 13                                  Policymaking

                                                                       

Topics and Readings

(Readings marked with an asterisk are required. Other readings are recommended for case study.)

Week 1 (1/20 at Zoom): Introduction

  • Svolik, Milan W., Chapter 1.
  • Ezrow and Frantz, pp. 55-67.

 

Part I: Concepts, Measurement, and Theoretical Foundations

Week 2 (1/24, 27 at Zoom): Political Regimes and Measurement

What distinguishes authoritarian from democratic regimes? What are distinguishing characteristics of different types of authoritarian regimes? What are major trends over time regarding the frequency of dictatorships relative to democracies, as well as the frequency of different types of authoritarian regimes?

  • Ezrow and Frantz, Chapters 1, 2, and 13.
  • Svolik, Milan W., Chapter 2.

Recommended Reading:

Freedom House. Freedom in the World. Available at https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world

Polity5: regime authority characteristics and transitions datasets. Available at https://www.systemicpeace.org/inscrdata.html
Anna Lührmann, Seraphine F. Maerz, Sandra Grahn, Nazifa Alizada, Lisa Gastaldi, Sebastian Hellmeier, Garry Hindle and Staffan I. Lindberg. 2020. Autocratization Surges – Resistance Grows. Democracy Report 2020. Varieties of Democracy Institute (V-Dem). Available at https://www.v-dem.net/media/filer_public/de/39/de39af54-0bc5-4421-89ae-fb20dcc53dba/democracy_report.pdf

 

Week 3 (1/31): Seizing Power and Leadership Succession

In the absence of the electoral mechanism through which leaders are replaced in democracies, how do leaders take power or get replaced in authoritarian states? Why do some leadership transitions are peaceful and others are not?

  • Ezrow and Frantz, Chapter 5 and pp. 240-255.  

 

Case Study (2/3): Hereditary Succession

Ezrow and Frantz, pp. 255-259. 

Lim, Jae-Cheon. 2012 “North Korea’s Hereditary Succession: Comparing Two Key Transitions in the DPRK.” Asian Survey, 52(3): 550-570.

Brownlee, Jason. 2007. “Hereditary Succession in Modern Autocracies.” World Politics. 59(4): 595-628.

 

Week 4 (2/7): Power Sharing

What strategies do authoritarian rulers use to stay in power? To what extent do individual leaders and/or elites determine the character of dictatorship? How do authoritarian rulers manage internal conflict over policy issues and handle issues of succession?

  • Ezrow and Frantz, Chapter 4, pp. 215-225.
  • Svolik, Milan W., Chapter 3. 

 

Case Study (2/10): Personalist Dictatorship in Sub-Saharan Africa and Beyond

Ezrow and Frantz, pp. 225-235.

Gorlizki, Yoram and Khlevniuk, Oleg. 2006. Stalin and his Circle. In Ronald G. Suny, editor, The Cambridge history of Russia, Volume 3, pages 243–267. New York:  Cambridge University Press.

 

(2/11-13) Part I review and Quiz 1

 

Part II: Institutions and Ruling Strategies

Week 5 (2/14): Political Parties

In what ways do parties provide effective organizations for helping authoritarian regimes remain in power? What are the difficulties and tradeoffs involved in creating strong authoritarian parties? What are sources of vulnerability in the authoritarian party systems?

  • Ezrow and Frantz, Chapter 10.
  • Svolik, Milan W., Chapter 6.

 

Case Study (2/17): The Party-State in China

Li, Cheng. 2010. China’s Communist Party-State: The Structure and Dynamics of Power. In William A. Joseph, editor, Politics in China: An Introduction, pages 165–191. New York: Oxford University Press.

Saich, Tony. 2021. From Rebel to Ruler: One Hundred Years of the Chinese Communist Party. Harvard University Press. pp. 1-18.

 

Week 6 (2/21): Legislatures

Why do authoritarian regimes often maintain legislatures given the lack of interest in genuine representation and accountability? How do legislatures in authoritarian contexts differ from the ones in democratic polities? Why is there “rule of law” in authoritarian regimes? How do constitutions, courts and judicial systems undermine or consolidate authoritarianism?

 

Case Study (2/24): “Rule of Law” in Authoritarian Regimes

Moustafa, Tamir. “Law and Resistance in Authoritarian States: The Judicialization of Politics in Egypt.” in Rule by Law: The Politics of Courts in Authoritarian Regimes, edited by Tom Ginsburg and Tamir Moustafa. Cambridge University Press, 2008.

Magaloni, Beatriz. “Enforcing the Autocratic Political Order and the Role of Courts: The Case of México.” in Rule by Law: The Politics of Courts in Authoritarian Regimes, edited by Ginsburg and Mustafa, 180-206. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008.

 

Week 7 (2/28): Elections

It is common that contemporary authoritarian regimes hold at least semi-competitive elections. Why have so many authoritarian rulers agreed to hold elections? In what ways can these elections facilitate democracy? In what ways can these elections serve as a tool to bolster authoritarian rule?

  • Ezrow and Frantz, pp. 67-78.
  • Schedler, Andreas. 2002. “Elections without Democracy: The Menu of Manipulation.” Journal of Democracy, 13(2):36–50.

 

Case Study (3/3): Autocratic Elections

Tucker, Joshua A. 2007. “Enough! Electoral Fraud, Collective Action Problems, and Postcommunist Colored Revolutions.” Perspectives on Politics, 5(4):535–551.

Ellen Lust-Okar. 2006. “Elections Under Authoritarianism: Preliminary Lessons from Jordan,” Democratization 13(3): 456-471.

 

Week 8 (3/7): Use of Force

The authoritarian states vary a lot in terms of how much repression they use -- from mild ones to psychotic.  What prompts authoritarian rulers to use political repression, especially at the mass scale, and what consequences does it have on the society, opposition, and the regime itself.

  • Ezrow and Frantz, Chapter 9.
  • Svolik, Milan W., Chapter 5. 

 

Case Study (3/10): Military Rule in Latin America

Cohen, Youssef. 1987. “Democracy from Above: The Political Origins of Military Dictatorship in Brazil.” World Politics 40 (1): 30-54.

Rouquie, Alain. 1987. The Military and the State in Latin America. Berkeley: University of California Press. Chapter 6. (ebook)

 

Week 9 (3/14, 17): Spring Break, No Class

 

Week 10 (3/21): Distributive Politics

Under fiscal constraints, authoritarian rulers have to strategically distribute benefits to maintain support and buy off opponents in order to maximize the prospects of regime survival. How does a rich nature resource assist or prevent authoritarian rulers in benefit distribution for political interest? Is the resource a curse or blessing for authoritarian regime survival?    

  • Bueno de Mesquita, Bruce, Alastair Smith, Randolph M. Siverson, and James D. Morrow. 2003. The Logic of Political Survival. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, Chapter 1.
  • Michael L. Ross. 2001. “Does Oil Hinder Democracy,” World Politics 53(3): 325-361.

 

Case Study (3/24): The Resource Curse

Friedman, Thomas L. 2006. “The First Law of Petropolitics.” Foreign Policy, (154):28–36.

Ross, Michael L. 2011. “Will Oil Drown the Arab Spring?” Foreign Affairs, 90(5): 2-7.

Treisman, Daniel. 2010. “Is Russia Cursed by Oil?” Journal of International Affairs, 63(2):85–102.

 

(3/31) Guest Lecture by Mai Alfarhan, PhD student, Department of Political Science, Rutgers University

 

Week 11 (4/4): Media

What are authoritarian rulers’ goals when imposing media controls? Under what conditions can rulers achieve these goals? When might authoritarian regimes benefit from loosening media controls? How has the advent of the Internet and social media affected prospects for authoritarian regime survival?

  • Lynch, Marc. “After Egypt: The Limits and Promise of Online Challenges to the Authoritarian Arab State.” Perspectives on Politics 9.2 (June 2011): 301-310.
  • King Gary, Jennifer Pan, and Margaret Roberts. 2013. “How Censorship in China Allows Government Criticism but Silences Collective Expression.” American Political Science Review. 107(2): 326-343.

 

Case Study (4/7): Is Technology a Challenge or Weapon for Authoritarian Regimes?

Howard, Philip, and Muzammil Hussain. “The Role of Digital Media.” Journal of Democracy 22.3 (July 2011): 35-48.

Gladwell, Macolm, “Small Change: Why the Revolution will not be Tweeted,” The New Yorker, October 4, 2010, 86 (30): 42-49. Available at https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2010/10/04/small-change-malcolm-gladwell

China’s Surveillance State Has Tens of Millions of New Target. Available at https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/10/21/china-xinjiang-surveillance-state-police-targets/

 

 (4/8-10) Part II review and Quiz 2

 

Part III: Issues under Authoritarian Rule 

Week 12 (4/11): Economy

Because regimes that are strong enough to enforce property rights are also strong enough to take them away, how can dictators ever credibly commit to protect property rights? What incentives do authoritarian regimes have to pursue policies that either promote or undermine economic growth? Under what conditions can authoritarian regimes succeed at promoting economic development?

  • Ezrow and Frantz, Chapter 7.
  • Olson, Mancur. 1993. “Dictatorship, Democracy, and Development.” American Political Science Review, 87:567–576.

 

Case Study (4/14): China’s Economic Development under Authoritarianism

“Examining Authoritarian Developmental States,” Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation.  

Shirk, Susan. 1993. The Political Logic of Economic Reform in China. Berkeley: University of California Press. Chapters 1-2.

 

Week 13 (4/18): Protests

What motivated and enabled ordinary citizens to suddenly rise up and precipitate authoritarian turnover like the one in several Middle Eastern/North African countries in the spring of 2011? What accounts for differences in outcomes across countries in the region? Which authoritarian tools that we have discussed proved most or least effective in response to protests?

  • Kuran, Timur. 1991. “Now Out of Never: The Element of Surprise in the East European Revolution of 1989.” World Politics, 44:7–48.
  • Bellin, Eva R. 2012. "Reconsidering the Robustness of Authoritarianism in the Middle East: Lessons from the Arab Spring." Comparative Politics, 44(2): 127-149.

 

(4/21):  Guest Lecture by Xu Xu, Assistant Professor of Political Science in Princeton University

 

Case Study (4/25): The Arab Spring

Anderson, Lisa. 2011. “Demystifying the Arab Spring.” Foreign Affairs. 90(3): 2-7.

Goldstone, Jack A., “Understanding the Revolutions of 2011,” Foreign Affairs, May/June 2011, Vol. 90, Issue 3, p. 8-16.

Masoud, Tarek, Andrew Reynolds, and Jason Brownlee. “Tracking the ‘Arab Spring’: Why the Modest Harvest?”. Journal of Democracy 24, no. 4 (October 2013): 29-44.

 

Week 14 (4/28): Policymaking

Although authoritarian leaders typically have more space to maneuver the policy, often this presents more challenges than advantages. How is policy made under authoritarian rule? Are authoritarian regimes more effective and efficient than democratic regimes in policymaking? Does social policy crafted in dictatorships differ from social policy in democratic regimes?

  •  Ezrow and Frantz, Chapters 6 and 8.

 

Week 15 (5/2): Final Review

  • Ezrow and Frantz, pp. 276-279.
  • Svolik, Milan W., Chapter 7.

 

Final Essays Due on 5/8



 



 

Course Summary:

Date Details Due