1 Government 6434: Comparative Authoritarianism Spring, 2009 Valerie Bunce David Patel Valerie Bunce 204 White Hall vjb2@cornell.edu Office Hours: Monday: 2 3:30 Tuesday: 10:30 12 David Patel 218 White Hall patel@cornell.edu Office Hours: Wednesday: 2 4 Course Overview: Since the global wave of democratization began in the mid 1970s in Spain and Portugal, the primary regime focus in comparative politics has been on the rise and consolidation of democracy, rather than the origins, structure and practices of dictatorship. In recent years, however, there has been renewed interest in authoritarianism. This return to authoritarian politics as an important area of study reflects the influence of three developments declining intellectual returns on the study of democracy and democratic transitions; the proliferation over the course of the third wave of democratization of mixed regimes that combine democratic and authoritarian features, with the latter often becoming more important over time; and resistance to the democratic virus by important authoritarian regimes, including China, along with virtually all of the regimes that are located in the Middle East. Also influential has been recognition of a core bias built into many studies of democratization; that is, the assumption that the future of all regimes is democracy, not dictatorship. The purpose of this course is to discuss both the recent and (to a lesser extent) the older literature on authoritarianism and to analyze in the process the origins, structure, and practices of contemporary authoritarian regimes throughout the world, along with some earlier examples of authoritarian polities, such as communist regimes, that have largely passed from the political scene. In selecting the readings for this course, we have been guided by three goals. One was selecting readings that highlight different methodological approaches in political science. Another was maximizing the range of regimes analyzed. Finally, we wanted to focus on core issues that are central to the analysis of all regimes, whether democratic or authoritarian for example, institutional design; competing arguments about regime origins; the relationship between the state and the economy, the state and the international system, and the regime and the society; the management of both competition for power and leadership succession; and issues of both regime legitimacy and accountability.
2 Course Format: This is a seminar, which means that our goal is to use each session to integrate and critique the assigned readings, as well as identify areas ripe for new research. Each week two students will circulate to their colleagues before the class meets (Sunday morning at the latest) a short and critical assessment of the readings (approximately three to four pages in length), with the assessment highlighting key methodological and substantive issues posed by the readings (rather than, say, a simple summary of each reading). The assumption in this exercise is that the two discussion leaders will collaborate on producing a single written document that will also serve as the foundation for our in class discussion. Patel and Bunce will open the class with some comments and then turn to the two discussants of the week to lead us through the issues posed by the readings. While knowing the literature is an important component of this process, so is identifying the limits of that literature and neglected areas of study. Evaluation: In addition to taking turns writing and circulating summaries, as well as running the discussion, members of the seminar are expected to write either a research paper (approximately 20 to 25 pages in length) or a research design (15 pages). We urge you to begin discussing your ideas with us as soon as possible and to avoid taking an incomplete. Readings: Most of the readings are available on Blackboard. However, you will also be expected to read several books for this course. They are available for purchase in the Cornell Bookstore and on line. They are also on reserve in Olin Library Room 405. Dunning, Thad. 2008. Crude democracy : natural resource wealth and political regimes. Cambridge ; New York: Cambridge University Press. Jamal, Amaney A. 2007. Barriers to democracy : the other side of social capital in Palestine and the Arab world. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press. Kapuściński, Ryszard. 1984. The Emperor : downfall of an autocrat. 1st Vintage Books ed. New York: Vintage Books. Kotkin, Stephen. 1995. Magnetic mountain : Stalinism as a civilization. Berkeley: University of California Press. Full text available online through the Cornell Library website: http://catalog.library.cornell.edu/cgi bin/pwebrecon.cgi?bbid=6281931&db=local Linz, Juan J. 2000. Totalitarian and authoritarian regimes. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publishers. Magaloni, Beatriz. 2006. Voting for autocracy : hegemonic party survival and its demise in Mexico. Cambridge ; New York: Cambridge University Press. Shambaugh, David. 2008. China s Communist Party: atrophy and adaptation. Berkeley: University of California Press. NOTE: This book was not ordered in the bookstore. Wedeen, Lisa. 1999. Ambiguities of domination : politics, rhetoric, and symbols in contemporary Syria. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
3 January 19 Introduction Lisa Anderson, Searching Where the Light Shines: Studying Democratization in the Middle East, Annual Review of Political Science, 9 (2006):189 214. Jason Brownlee, Low Tide After the Third Wave; Exploring Politics under Authoritarianism, Comparative Politics, 34, 4 (July 2002), pp. 477 498. Marsha Pripstein Posusney, Enduring Authoritarianism: Middle East Lessons for Comparative Theory, Comparative Politics, 36, no. 2 (Jan. 2004), pp. 127 138. January 26 Origins of authoritarianism Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson. 2005. Economic Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press. Chapter 2 pp. 15 47. Ben Smith. 2008. Rethinking The Economic Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy: The Continuing Value of Cases and Comparisons. APSA CP 19, 1, pp. 16 20. Mancur Olson, Dictatorship, Democracy, and Development, American Political Science Review 87, 3 (1993), pp. 567 576. Ronald Wintrobe. 2007. Dictatorship: Analytical Approaches, in Carles Boix and Susan C. Stokes eds. The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Politics. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. pp. 363 396 Barry Weingast, The Political Foundations of Democracy and the Rule of Law, American Political Science Review 91, 2 (1997), pp. 245 263. Hadenius, Axel and Jan Teorell. "Pathways from Authoritarianism." Journal of Democracy 18, no. 1 (Jan, 2007): 143. M. Steven Fish. 2002. Islam and Authoritarianism. World Politics 55, 1:4 37. Recommended: Barrington Moore, Social Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy (Boston: Beacon, 1966). February 2 Kinds of authoritarianism Paul Brooker. 2000. Chapters 1 2 ( Theories of Non Democratic Government and Types of Non Democratic Government ) in Non Democratic Regimes: Theory, Government & Politics, p. 7 58
4 Jennifer Gandhi and Adam Przeworski. 2006. Cooperation, Cooptation, and Rebellion Under Dictatorships, Economics & Politics, 18(1):1 26. Barbara Geddes. 2003. Paradigms and Sand Castles. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press. pp. 50 64, 225 232. Steven Levitsky and Lucan Way, The Rise of Competitive Authoritarianism, Journal of Democracy 13, 2 (2002), pp. 51 65. Henry Hale, The Problem of Hybrid Regimes. Paper prepared for Nathan Brown, ed., Democracy: Doubt, Dictatorship, Diffusion and Development. Unpublished book manuscript, George Washington University, January, 2009. Valerie Bunce, Democracy, Stalinism and the Management of Uncertainty. In Gyorgy Szoboszlai, ed., Democracy and Political Transformation. Budapest: Hungarian Political Science Association, 1991. Philip G. Roessler and Marc Morje Howard, Post Cold War Regimes: When Do Elections Matter In Staffan Lindberg, ed., Democratization by Elections. Johns Hopkins University Press, 2009, forthcoming. Juan J. Linz. 2000. Totalitarian and Authoritarian Regimes. Boulder: Lynne Reiner. Recommended: Bruce Bueno de Mesquita, Alastair Smith, Randolph M. Siverson and James D. Morrow, The Logic of Political Survival February 9 Institutions and Authoritarianism Shambaugh, David. 2008. China s Communist Party: atrophy and adaptation. Berkeley: University of California Press. Rosberg, J. 1995. Roads to the Rule of Law: The Emergence of an Independent Judiciary in Contemporary Egypt. Ph.D. dissertation, Political Science, MIT. Peter Solomon, Courts and Judiciaries in Authoritarian Regimes, World Politics, 60, no. 1 (October 2007). Barbara Geddes, Party Creation as an Autocratic Survival Strategy. http://www.princeton.edu/~piirs/dictatorships042508/ Andrew Mertha. Policy Enforcment Markets: How Bureaucratic Redundancy Contributes to Effective IRP Policy Implementation in China, Comparative Politics 38 (3) April 2006: 295 316.
5 Kellee Tsai. Adaptive Informal Institutions and Endogenous Institutional Change in China, World Politics 59 (October 2006): 116 141. Recommended: Pierre F. Landry, Decentralized Authoritarianism in China: The Communist Party s Control of Local Elites in the Post Mao Era. Cambridge University Press, 2008. February 16 Building Authoritarianism Stephen Kotkin, Magnetic Mountain: Stalinism as Civilization (University of California Press, 1995). Hassner, Pierre. Russia s Transition to Autocracy. Journal of Democracy, 19, no. 2 (April 2008): 5 15. February 23 The Politics of Maintaining and Transferring Power Valerie Bunce, The Political Economy of the Brezhnev Era: The Rise and Fall of Corporatism. British Journal of Political Science, 13, no. 2 (April 1983): 129 158. Ryszard Kapuściński, 1984, The Emperor: downfall of an autocrat (Vintage Books, New York). Valerie Bunce, "Elite Succession, Petrification, and Policy Innovation in Communist Nations: An Empirical Assessment," Comparative Political Studies, 9 (April, 1976): 3 42. Jason Brownlee, Hereditary Succession in Modern Autocracies, World Politics 59, 4 (July 2007), pp. 595 628. Andrew Nathan. 2003. Authoritarian Resilience: China s Changing of the Guard, Journal of Democracy 14, 1 (January) Bruce Dickson, Sustainability and Party Rule in China: Coercion, Co optation and their Consequences, In Nathan Brown, ed., Democracy: Doubt, Dictatorship, Diffusion, and Development. Unpublished book manuscript, George Washington University, January, 2009. Hale Henry, Regime Cycles, Democracy, Autocracy and Revolution in Post Soviet Eurasia. World Politics, 58, 1 (October): 133 165. Michael Bratton and Eldred Masunungore, Zimbabwe s Long Agony, Journal of Democracy, 19, 4 (October 2008), pp. 41 55.
6 March 2: Authoritarianism, Culture and Societal Organization Lily Tsai, Solidarity Groups, Informal Accountability, and Local Public Goods Provision in Rural China, American Political Science Review 101, 2 (May 2007), p. 355 372. Kathleen Collins, The Logic of Clan Politics: Evidence from the Central Asian Trajectories, World Politics, 56, no. 2 (January 2004). Amatzia Baram, Neo Tribalism in Iraq: Saddam Hussein s Tribal Politics 1991 1996, International Journal of Middle East Studies 29, 1 (February 1997), pp. 1 31. Lisa Wedeen. 1999. Ambiguities of Domination: Politics, Rhetoric, and Symbols in Contemporary Syria. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. March 9 Opposition Politics and Civil Society Ellen Lust Okar, Divided They Rule: The Management and Manipulation of Political Opposition, Comparative Politics 36, 2 (January 2004), pp. 159 179. Marc Morjé Howard and Philip G. Roessler, Liberalizing Electoral Outcomes in Competitive Authoritarian Regimes, American Journal of Political Science 50, 2 (April 2006), pp. 365 381. Nicolas van de Walle, Tipping Games: When Do Opposition Parties Coalesce? In Andreas Schedler, ed., Electoral Authoritarianism: The Dynamics of Unfree Competition. Boulder: Lynne Rienner, 2006, pp. 77 94. Florian Bieber, The Serbian Transition and Civil Society: Roots of the Delayed Transition in Serbia International Journal of Politics, Culture, and Society 17, no. 1 (Fall 2003), 73 90. Jason Brownlee, Credible Commitments and the Perils of Moderation: Why the Egyptian Opposition is met by Repression. http://www.princeton.edu/~piirs/dictatorships042508/brownlee.pdf Jennifer Gandhi, Coordination among Opposition Parties in Authoritarian Elections. http://www.princeton.edu/~piirs/dictatorships042508/gandhi.pdf Amaney A. Jamal. 2007. Barriers to Democracy. Princeton: Princeton University Press. March 16 Spring Break
7 March 23 Protests and Policing Timur Kuran, Now Out of Never: The Element of Surprise in the East European Revolution of 1989, World Politics 44, 1 (Oct 1991), pp. 7 48 Susanne Lohmann, The Dynamics of Informational Cascades: The Monday Demonstrations in Leipzig, East Germany, 1989 91, World Politics 47, 1 (Oct 1994), pp. 42 101. Joshua A. Tucker, Enough! Electoral Fraud Collective Action Problems and Post Communist Colored Revolutions, Perspectives on Politics 5, 3 (September 2007), pp. 535 551. Peter Lorentzen, Regularized Rioting: The Strategic Toleration of Public Protest in China, University of California, Berkeley, unpublished manuscript, June 2, 2008. Kevin O Brien, Rightful Resistance, World Politics 49, 1 (1996), pp. 31 55. Llanjiang Li and Kevin J. O Brien, Protest Leadership in Rural China. China Quarterly 193 (March 2008), pp. 1 23. Beatriz Magaloni and Jeremy Wallace, Citizen Loyalty, Mass Protest and Authoritarian Survival. http://www.princeton.edu/~piirs/dictatorships042508/magaloni%20&%20wallace%20 %20Loyalty,%20Protest,%20&%20Authoritarian%20Survival.pdf Jay Lyall, Pocket Protest: Rhetorical Coercion and the Micropolitics of Collective Action in Semi Authoritarian Regimes, World Politics, 58, no. 3 (April 2006). Graeme Robertson, Strikes and Labor Organization in Hybrid Regimes, American Political Science review, 101, no. 4 (November 2007), pp. 781 798. March 30 Voting for authoritarians Beatriz Magaloni, Voting for Autocracy: Hegemonic Party Survival and Its Demise in Mexico, Cambridge University Press, Mark Tessler. 1997. The origins of popular support for Islamist movements: a political economy analysis. In John P. Entelis, ed. Islam, Democracy, and the State in North Africa. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. pp. 93 126. Stathis N. Kalyvas. 2000. Commitment problems in emerging democracies: the case of religious parties. Comparative Politics 32, 4:379 398.
8 Amber Seligson and Joshua Tucker, Feeding the Hand that Bit You: Voting for Ex Authoritarian Rulers in Bolivia and Russia. http://www.princeton.edu/~csdp/research/pdfs/seligson_tucker_2003.pdf April 6 Elections in authoritarian regimes Zaslavsky, Victor, and Robert J. Brym. 1978. The Functions of Elections in the USSR. Soviet Studies. 30, 3 (July):362 371. Ellen Lust Okar. TBD Jason Brownlee, Harbinger of Democracy: Competitive Elections Before the End of Authoritarianism. In Staffan Lindberg, ed., Democratization by Elections. Johns Hopkins University Press, 2009, forthcoming. Lisa Blaydes, Authoritarian Elections and Elite Management: Theory and Evidence from Egypt, unpublished manuscript, April 2008. Valerie Bunce and Sharon Wolchik, Defeating Dictators: Electoral Change and Stability in Competitive Authoritarian Regimes, manuscript under review, December 13, 2008. Valerie Bunce and Sharon Wolchik, Transnational Networks, Diffusion Dynamics, and Electoral Change in the Postcommunist World. Chapter in book manuscript under review, July 15, 2008. Lucan Way, The Real Cause of the Color Revolutions, Journal of Democracy, 19, 3 (July 2008) Valerie Bunce and Sharon Wolchik, Getting Real about Real Causes, Journal of Democracy, 20 (January 2009). April 13 Domestic and International Political Economy of Authoritarianism Review Valerie Bunce, The Political Economy of the Brezhnev Era: The Rise and Fall of Corporatism. British Journal of Political Science, 13, no. 2 (April 1983): 129 158. Thad Dunning, Crude Democracy: Natural Resource Wealth and Political Regimes, Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press, 2008. Kevin Morrison, Oil, Non Tax Revenue, and the Redistributional Foundations of Regime Stability, International Organization 63 (Winter 2009), pp. 107 38. Michael Ross, Oil, Islam and Women, American Political Science Review, 102, no. 1 (February 2008). (and review the Fish article assigned earlier)
9 Nathan Jensen and Leonard Wantchekon, Resource Wealth and Political Regimes in Africa, Comparative Political Studies 37, 7 (2004), pp. 816 841. Bruce Dickson, Integrating Wealth and Power in China: The Communist Party s Embrace of the Private Sector, China Quarterly, 192 (December 2007), pp. 827 54. Hongbin Cai and Daniel Treisman. 2006. Did Government Decentralization Cause China s Economic Miracle? World Politics 58, 4. Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson, Economic Backwardness in Political Perspective, American Political Science Review, 100, no. 1 (February 2006). April 20 Breakdown Thomas B. Pepinsky. 2008. Capital Mobility and Coalitional Politics: Authoritarian Regimes and Economic Adjustment in Southeast Asia. World Politics 60, 3. Valerie Bunce, "The Empire Strikes Back: The Evolution of the Eastern Bloc from a Soviet Asset to a Soviet Liability." International Organization, 39 (Winter, 1984/1985): 1 46. Keith Darden and Anna Grzymala Busse, The Great Divide: Literacy, Nationalism, and the Communist Collapse. World Politics, 59, no. 1 (October 2006). Stathis Kalyvas, The Decay and Breakdown of Communist One Party Systems, Annual Review of Political Science 1999, no. 2, pp. 323 343. Maria Csanadi, The Diary of Decline: A Case Study of the Disintegration of the Party in One District in Hungary. Soviet Studies, 43, 6 (1991): 1085 1099. http://www.jstor.org.proxy.library.cornell.edu/stable/152406 Benjamin Smith. Life of the Party: The Origins of Regime Breakdown and Persistence under Single Party Rule, World Politics 57, April 2005, pp. 421 451. Leonardo R. Arriola. Patronage and Political Stability in Africa. Forthcoming in Comparative Political Studies. http://www.polisci.berkeley.edu/faculty/bio/permanent/arriola,l/arriolacabinets0508.pdf Bellin, Eva. The Robustness of Authoritarianism in the Middle East: A Comparative Perspective, Comparative Politics, vol. 36, no. 2, pp. 139 157. Jan, 2004.
10 Barbara Geddes, Authoritarian Breakdown: Empirical Test of a Game Theoretic Argument, Paper presented at the 95 th annual meeting of the American Political Science Association, September 1999, Atlanta, GA. April 27 International Politics of Authoritarianism Bruce Russett. 1994. Grasping the Democratic Peace. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Chapter 2, pp. 24 42 Hein Goemans. 2000. War and Punishment. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Chapter 2, pp. 19 52 Jessica Weeks, Autocratic Audience Costs: Regime Type and Signaling Resolve, International Organization 62, 1 (Win 2008), pp. 35 64. Susan Hyde, Catch Me if You Can: Why Leaders Invite International Election Monitors and Cheat in Front of Them, Yale University, Unpublished manuscript, June 14, 2008. Abel Escribà Folch, Dealing with Tyranny: International Sanctions and Autocrats Duration, IBEI, unpublished manuscript, n.d.