How Authoritarianism Transforms: A Framework for the Study of Digital Dictatorship

Abstract While digital technologies have induced profound global transformations, political scientists often lack the analytical tools to grasp their effects on politics. In particular, digitization's impact dictatorships remains not only empirically understudied, but seriously under-conceptualized. How do new technological possibilities affect autocratic politics? This contribution starts from inner logic of authoritarianism rather than technical innovation. It first maps ways in which autocrats employ various maintain power. helps us identify seven core areas where dictatorial politics are transformed by use tools. We delineate key characteristics these change and conclude that, sum, technologically transformations significantly alter nature dictatorship if when it is digitized.