How regional organizations sustain authoritarian rule : the dictators' club / Maria J. Debre.
| Author/creator | Debre, Maria J. author. |
| Format | Book |
| Publication | Oxford, United Kingdom ; New York, NY : Oxford University Press, 2025. |
| Copyright Date | ©2025 |
| Description | xiii, 218 pages : illustrations (black & white) ; 24 cm |
| Subjects |
| Contents | The dictator's club : theorizing regional organization membership and regime survival -- Patterns of authoritarian membership in regional organizations -- The effects of membership in dictator clubs on regime survival -- How dictator clubs empower autocratic incumbents -- How dictator clubs constrain regional challenges -- How dictator clubs shield from external pressure. |
| Abstract | "Authoritarian regional organizations have experienced a remarkable rise in numbers and importance. Autocracies across all world regions have joined organizations such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), or the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA). Why do autocracies institutionalize cooperation and join regional organizations, thereby bearing possible sovereignty costs? Do authoritarian regional organizations differ from their democratic counterparts in terms of activities and design? And what are the domestic effects from membership for authoritarian rule? The Dictators' Club analyses how regional organizations help autocratic regimes secure their hold on power. The book shows how autocratic incumbent regimes sort into Dictator Clubs that help to successfully defend against domestic and international challenges during moments of political instability. This happens via distinct causal chains. Dictator Clubs redistribute resources towards authoritarian elites that raise the cost of challenging behavior for the opposition, they regulate appropriate behavior amongst fellow members to prevent regional interference on the side of dissenting actors, and protect regimes in case of international pressure and thereby lower the cost of employing repressive tactics. Combining statistical survival analysis and case-based evidence from the Middle East, (Eur)Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Latin America, the book shows that regional organization have had a helping hand in defending autocratic regimes from pro-democratic protestors, in co-opting political elites, in legitimizing flawed elections, and in shielding against the fallout from international sanctions. The book thereby shows how ROs are responsible for reinforcing authoritarian rule across the globe"-- Provided by publisher |
| Bibliography note | Includes bibliographical references (pages 182-216) and index. |
| Issued in other form | Electronic version: Debre, Maria J. How regional organizations sustain authoritarian rule. Oxford : Oxford University Press, [2025] 9780198903635 |
| ISBN | 9780198903604 |
| ISBN | 019890360X hardback |
| ISBN | (epub) |
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