The three pillars of stability: legitimation, repression, and co-optation in autocratic regimes
The three pillars of stability: legitimation, repression, and co-optation in autocratic regimes
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DOI：
10.1080/13510347.2013.738860
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发表时间：
2013-01-01
期刊：
影响因子：
3.2
通讯作者：
Gerschewski, Johannes
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Gerschewski, Johannes
为什么有些独裁政权保持稳定，而另一些则崩溃了？本文提出了一个理论框架，试图解释独裁政权的长寿，参考稳定的三个支柱：合法化，镇压和拉拢。这三个因果因素是通过提炼和综合经典和最近的研究工作的主要论点得出的。特别强调的是重新纳入合法性的解释稳定的专制。本文对这三大支柱进行了概念化，并讨论了具体的衡量方法。然后，它继续解释稳定过程。这些支柱如何发挥其稳定作用？有人认为，强化过程既发生在支柱内部，也发生在支柱之间。它们的形式有外生强化、自我强化和相互强化。为了说明这些过程的内在逻辑，我引用了一些经验性的例子。我还说明了我们需要从经验上观察什么，以及我们如何有条不紊地处理这三大支柱。这种性质的理论框架有两个优点：它能够考虑到专制政权的复杂性，同时保持节俭，足以适用于所有专制政权，无论其子类型;它整合了一个静态的观点来解释稳定性，强调基本的稳定机制，并促进案例内和跨案例的比较。
Why do some autocracies remain stable while others collapse? This article presents a theoretical framework that seeks to explain the longevity of autocracies by referring to three pillars of stability: legitimation, repression, and co-optation. These three causal factors are derived by distilling and synthesizing the main arguments of classic and more recent research efforts. Particular emphasis is paid to re-incorporate legitimation in the explanation of stable autocracies. The article conceptionalizes the three pillars and discusses methods of concrete measurement. It then moves on to explain the stabilization process. How do these pillars develop their stabilizing effect? It is argued that reinforcement processes take place both within and between the pillars. They take the form of exogenous reinforcement, self-reinforcement, and reciprocal reinforcement. To illustrate the inner logic of these processes, I draw on empirical examples. I also state what we would need to observe empirically and how we can approach the three pillars methodically. A theoretical framework of this nature has two advantages: it is able to take the complexity of autocratic regimes into account while remaining parsimonious enough to be applicable to all autocratic regimes, irrespective of their subtype; and it integrates a static view to explain stability, with the emphasis on the underlying stabilization mechanisms and facilitates within-case and cross-case comparisons.