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Authoritarian multiparty governments.
1The Behavioural Insights Team, London, United Kingdom.
Democratization
|November 29, 2024
Summary
Authoritarian multiparty governments (AMGs) are a common power-sharing strategy where autocrats include opposition parties in cabinets to divide them and maintain rule. This study reveals AMGs are a survival tactic for dictatorships globally.
Area of Science:
- Political Science
- Comparative Politics
- Autocratic Regimes
Background:
- Dictatorships increasingly incorporate multiple political parties into their governments, a phenomenon understudied by existing research.
- Conventional wisdom views granting external political actors access to ministerial cabinets as a high-risk, high-cost strategy for autocrats.
- Authoritarian multiparty governments (AMGs) represent a significant and growing global trend in contemporary political systems.
Purpose of the Study:
- To systematically investigate the prevalence and strategic function of authoritarian multiparty governments (AMGs).
- To analyze AMGs as a power-sharing mechanism for autocrats to co-opt opposition and consolidate rule.
- To examine the correlation between AMGs and factors such as ethnic divisions, civil conflict, and democratic institutions.
Main Methods:
- Utilized individual-level data on the partisan affiliation of ministers within autocracies worldwide.
- Employed novel measures of power-sharing to assess the influence of coalition partners within ministerial mandates.
- Conducted a systematic analysis of cabinet composition in authoritarian regimes.
Main Results:
- Authoritarian multiparty governments (AMGs) show a positive correlation with the presence of ethnic divides, civil war, and "democratic" institutions.
- Evidence indicates that coalition partners in AMGs often wield substantial influence through their assigned ministerial roles.
- The study confirms that AMGs are a prevalent and increasingly common feature of global dictatorships.
Conclusions:
- Authoritarian multiparty governments (AMGs) serve as an underrecognized strategy for autocratic survival and rule consolidation.
- The inclusion of opposition parties in cabinets is a deliberate tactic to fragment the opposition.
- Future research should prioritize the organizational structure and political composition of executives in authoritarian states.
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