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Milan W. Svolik
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The Politics of Authoritarian Rule (Cambridge Studies in Comparative Politics)

by Milan W. Svolik (Author)
4.4 out of 5 stars 46 ratings
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What drives politics in dictatorships? Milan W. Svolik argues that all authoritarian regimes must resolve two fundamental conflicts. First, dictators face threats from the masses over which they rule – this is the problem of authoritarian control. A second, separate challenge arises from the elites with whom dictators rule – this is the problem of authoritarian power-sharing. Crucially, whether and how dictators resolve these two problems is shaped by the dismal environment in which authoritarian politics takes place: in a dictatorship, no independent authority has the power to enforce agreements among key actors and violence is the ultimate arbiter of conflict. Using the tools of game theory, Svolik explains why some dictators, such as Saddam Hussein, establish personal autocracy and stay in power for decades; why leadership changes elsewhere 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. When assessing his arguments, Svolik complements these and other historical case studies with the statistical analysis of comprehensive, original data on institutions, leaders, and ruling coalitions across all dictatorships from 1946 to 2008.
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  1. ISBN-10
    1107607450
  2. ISBN-13
    978-1107607453
  3. Publisher
    Cambridge University Press
  4. Publication date
    September 17, 2012
  5. Part of series
    Cambridge Studies in Comparative Politics
  6. Language
    English
  7. Dimensions
    6.14 x 0.58 x 9.21 inches
  8. Print length
    258 pages
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"The Politics of Authoritarian Rule is a very important contribution to political science. The book provides much-needed theoretical microfoundations to a growing, but still scattered, literature on authoritarianism. It is based on superb empirical work. Above all, it is the product of Svolik's first-rate analytical mind working at its best." - Carles Boix, Princeton University

"In the nascent literature on the political economy of dictatorship, The Politics of Authoritarian Rule stands out. Few scholars know as much about authoritarianism as does Milan Svolik, and that rich knowledge informs every model and empirical test here. Anybody who wants to know (and who doesn't?) why dictators behave as they do should read this book." - Scott Gehlbach, University of Wisconsin

"In this superb book, Milan Svolik convincingly argues that authoritarian politics are the result of two critical conflicts: one between the ruler and the ruled, and the other among the ruling elites, both characterized by the fundamental problems of credible commitment and the ready availability of repression. This is a sophisticated, rigorous, and nuanced analysis that transforms our thinking about both the varieties of authoritarian rule and the underpinnings of authoritarian durability." - Anna Grzymala-Busse, University of Michigan

Book Description

Milan Svolik explores two fundamental conflicts that shape the politics of dictatorships: the problems of authoritarian control and authoritarian power-sharing.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Cambridge University Press (September 17, 2012)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 258 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1107607450
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1107607453
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 12.8 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.14 x 0.58 x 9.21 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 out of 5 stars 46 ratings

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Milan W. Svolik

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4.4 out of 5 stars
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Top reviews from the United States

  • Moshe Yanovskiy
    5.0 out of 5 stars My expectations met, I found data and explanations I searched for
    Reviewed in the United States on April 11, 2013
    Verified Purchase
    I'm not happy about all details of authors' methodology, but the book content - is among the best pieces of political studies outcomes, based on more or less universal criterions.
    One person found this helpful
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  • Jonathan W. Hackett
    4.0 out of 5 stars Rigorous, Quantitative, Inaccessible
    Reviewed in the United States on April 24, 2020
    Verified Purchase
    Svolik's "Politics of Authoritarian Rule" (2012) is intended for other political scientists, particularly those preferring quantitative methods and writing to build upon and test a certain form of theoretical frameworks the field continues to demand.

    Allow me to ask a normative question, perhaps one that would make Svolik cringe given his clear preference for quantitative, empirical methods. Noting the emphasis on advanced mathematics and writing for a guild-like field using members-only jargon and a propensity to fill pages with equations rather than observations leads one to wonder: For whom should this book be intended?

    Perhaps political scientists prefer to be divorced from politics in a zero sum game of theory or practice. The trend toward quantitative mathematical expressions of abstract types rather than emphasizing history and cases has been increasingly saturating the field of political science especially since the 1970s. This trend has worked hard against the Kantian relationship between theory and practice, resulting in a sort of opaque synthesis that is neither a useful theory nor a prescription for real events.

    Svolik crafts his equations with a number of caveats and qualifiers to ensure simplicity in equations, greatly reducing their connection to reality and limits their usefulness in the real world. Additionally, he emphasizes certain authoritarian cases over others, e.g. discussing Mexico's PRI and the Soviet Union in nearly every chapter, while devoting a single sentence to Iran's current regime. The latter is a unique political system that could be usefully examined to assist in testing his equations. With such an emphasis on quantitative methods, no such examination is possible since Iran is eliminated as an outlier for his equations, as are others that would be useful to examine for various reasons such as Eswatini, Georgia, or the Philippines.

    Compare a historical and case study approach to the political/military issue of authoritarian systems such as Kevin Pollack's "Armies of Sand" (2019) which examined military systems in a specific set of authoritarian states. Each of Pollack's cases, equally rigorous though primarily qualitative, brought exceptions to the fore and addressed them directly, often to great effect in reinforcing his claims. From a strictly political perspective, Francis Fukuyama's two volumes "The Origins of Political Order" (2011) and "Political Order and Political Decay" (2014) are far more useful for practitioners despite their combined length of nearly a thousand pages compared to the two hundred pages of Svolik's rigorous yet unfortunately inaccessible work.

    Svolik presents excellent research, elegant models, and a clear ability to identify key variables at work in authoritarian political systems. However, the utility of his findings is strictly limited to such a thin sliver of qualitative political scientists that the work is effectively useless to those involved in dealing with real authoritarian political systems and the conflicts they often present.
    3 people found this helpful
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  • lemmid
    5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic
    Reviewed in the United States on March 6, 2013
    Verified Purchase
    Read it Read it Read it Read it Read it Read it Read it Read it Read it Enough Said. I liked it a lot!
    2 people found this helpful
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  • Alexandra
    5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
    Reviewed in the United States on November 16, 2015
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    Brilliant theoretic explanation of authoritarian poer-sharing institutions.
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  • Z. Kirsh
    3.0 out of 5 stars not fun to read
    Reviewed in the United States on June 8, 2019
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    i read the authors other books they were better. this was not an easy read.
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  • riochico
    4.0 out of 5 stars Good but only a few can umderstand it very well
    Reviewed in the United States on March 30, 2014
    Verified Purchase
    Very informative material in understanding authoritarian regimes and how it functions. The only downside of the book is that not all people can understand the book. I mean ordinary people will not umderstand all of the contents of the book.
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Top reviews from other countries

  • Amazon Customer
    5.0 out of 5 stars A must read for all political science students
    Reviewed in Germany on April 26, 2017
    Verified Purchase
    The book is a very important and interesting read for any one who is interested in the politics of authoritarian regimes.
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