Why the world's most resilient dictatorships are products of violent revolution
Revolution and Dictatorship explores why dictatorships born of social revolution--such as those in China, Cuba, Iran, the Soviet Union, and Vietnam--are extraordinarily durable, even in the face of economic crisis, large-scale policy failure, mass discontent, and intense external pressure. Few other modern autocracies have survived in the face of such extreme challenges. Drawing on comparative historical analysis, Steven Levitsky and Lucan Way argue that radical efforts to transform the social and geopolitical order trigger intense counterrevolutionary conflict, which initially threatens regime survival, but ultimately fosters the unity and state-building that supports authoritarianism. Although most revolutionary governments begin weak, they challenge powerful domestic and foreign actors, often bringing about civil or external wars. These counterrevolutionary wars pose a threat that can destroy new regimes, as in the cases of Afghanistan and Cambodia. Among regimes that survive, however, prolonged conflicts give rise to a cohesive ruling elite and a powerful and loyal coercive apparatus. This leads to the downfall of rival organizations and alternative centers of power, such as armies, churches, monarchies, and landowners, and helps to inoculate revolutionary regimes against elite defection, military coups, and mass protest--three principal sources of authoritarian breakdown. Looking at a range of revolutionary and nonrevolutionary regimes from across the globe, Revolution and Dictatorship shows why governments that emerge from violent conflict endure.The Violent Origins of Durable Authoritarianism
Hardback
Publication Date: 01/02/2023
- ISBN:
- 9780691169521
- 9780691169521
- Category:
- Comparative politics
- Format:
- Hardback
- Publication Date:
- 01-02-2023
- Language:
- English
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- Country of origin:
- United States
- Dimensions (mm):
- 242x166x40.47mm
- Weight:
- 0.92kg
Click 'Notify Me' to get an email alert when this item becomes available
Great!
Click on Save to My Library / Lists
Click on Save to My Library / Lists
Select the List you'd like to categorise as, or add your own
Here you can mark if you have read this book, reading it or want to read
Awesome! You added your first item into your Library
Great! The fun begins.
Click on My Library / My Lists and I will take you there
Click on My Library / My Lists and I will take you there
You can find this item in:
Comparative politics
Revolutions
Politics & government
Political structures: totalitarianism & dictatorship
Show more
Show less
Reviews
Be the first to review Revolution and Dictatorship.
Share This Book: