How Do Autocrats Rule?
In the U.S. and elsewhere – Hungary, for example, and Turkey – leading politicians were described as autocrats, despite the regular and free elections. In this course, we cultivate a deeper, comparative understanding of what authoritarianism means and what it entails. But what is authoritarianism? If you think of democratic rule as that in which government is broadly representative and replaceable, at predictable intervals, by peaceful means and known-in-advance rules, then “autocratic” or “authoritarian” simply means non-democratic. We will look both at autocratic practices (including within democracies) and autocratic regimes as a whole. As we examine how authoritarian regimes operate and endure, we will draw out lessons about threats to democracy. It’s a course about the "best practices" of successful autocrats, not to create more of them but hopefully to anticipate and detect them when they arise.
The readings range widely but are organized thematically, each week or couple of weeks furnishing a discussion of one aspect of autocratic rule – elite integration and cohesion, militaries, and regional influences, among others The course is a comparative one, drawing themes and examples from across the world – among others, Saudi Arabia, the Soviet Union, Hungary, Syria, Malaysia, Israel, Turkey, Poland, Egypt and Russia – to better understand autocracy in its own right, on its own terms, and to better grasp the challenges to U.S. democracy. The course grade will be based on class participation and three writing assignments.
Required Reading: All required readings will be posted for free on Canvas. There are no required textbooks.