Promoting Democracy Under Electoral Authoritarianism: Evidence From Cambodia

Federalism and Electoral Authoritarianism under Putin

Throughout its short history, federal relations in Russia have been dominated by extra-legal political and economic relations rather than constitutionalism and the rule of law. The Russian Federation’s unique blend of constitutional, socioeconomic, and political asymmetry, far from promoting democracy, has bolstered authoritarian regimes in the regions. Federalism and regional democracy have al...

Authoritarianism, Democracy and the Transition to Socialism

Electoral Accountability and Responsive Democracy

We consider a canonical two-period model of elections with adverse selection (hidden preferences) and moral hazard (hidden actions), in which neither voters nor politicians can commit to future choices. We prove existence of electoral equilibria, and we show that in response to electoral incentives, office holders mix between “taking it easy” and “going for broke” in the first period. Even in t...

Promoting Democracy From Without: Evaluating From Within

Promoting democracy and ‘good governance’ in developing countries have become core objectives of official development agencies, both bilateral and multilateral. Three main sets of questions arise from such ‘assistance’. Analytically, what is the underlying motive in promoting political reform, and what is the assumed relationship between such measures and economic liberalisation? Contextually, ...

Anti-regime Uprisings and the Emergence of Electoral Authoritarianism

This paper explores the role of threats from below in the emergence of electoral authoritarianism. Mass uprisings for democratic regime change undermine closed authoritarian regimes by making it difficult for autocrats to maintain their regimes through repression and co-optation. Anti-regime uprisings also promote the establishment of electoral authoritarianism by toppling existing closed regim...