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The past few yrs have seen a proliferation of polisci scholarship on dictators' use of nominally-democratic institutions to prolong their tenure... but don't dictators also rely on coercion? This wk, we dove into @SheenaGreitens's "Dictators and their Secret Police." (2016) (1/8)
Dictators face a plethora of threats when they come to power, but one typically dominates in their perception. This dominant subjective threat shapes the kind of security apparatus they design, with important implications for intelligence-gathering and violence. (2/8)
Dictators most concerned with the threat of a coup from rival elites will develop fragmented and socially exclusive security institutions, intentionally fostering competition and overlap between agencies to limit any one rival actor's ability to gain too much power. (3/8)
This security apparatus is also exclusive, typically populated with loyal in-groups. The problem with this design is that such a security apparatus is quite poor at collecting and disseminating key information; and competing security agencies face incentives for violence. (4/8)
By contrast, dictators most concerned with the threat of popular protest will design unitary and inclusive security institutions, which end up being much more successful and efficient at collecting intelligence information, and more targeted in their use of violence. (5/8)
Empirically, Greitens delves deep into the diaries of dictators such as Chiang Kai-shek and Ferdinand Marcos, combining these goldmines with interview and archival research to trace the causal process in Taiwan, South Korea, and the Philippines. (6/8)
By comparing Park Chung Hee to Chun Doo Hwan in South Korea, she shows how well her theory applies within-country. And by following Chiang Kai-shek's shifting sense of threat from rival elites to popular protest, she shows her theory's application within-dictator! (7/8)
This is a rich book that contributes not just to our understanding of authoritarian persistence, but to scholarship on instit design &violence. It turns our attention to role that coercion plays in dictatorships, & studies it in a systematic, rigorous, & captivating manner. (8/8)
