♟️ Autocracy in democracy’s mirror

Matthijs Bogaards

Can we see autocracy more clearly if we see it as the opposite of democracy? Or do we need to look at autocracy as a category in its own right? Matthijs Bogaards provides an answer through a critical examination of the concept of defective autocracy, the mirror of defective democracy.

July 7, 2022

♟️ A 'cat-dog' called electoral autocracy

Adrián del Río

Since the 80s, electoral autocracy has been considered the most common form of dictatorship. Yet, as Adrián del Río shows, little is known about what this regime is and how we can recognise it. There is, in fact, only a 34% probability of datasets agreeing on examples

June 7, 2022

♟️ The rise of ‘information autocracies’: Kazakhstan and its constitutional referendum

Bakhytzhan Kurmanov

To understand today’s autocratic regimes, we should look at how they exploit social media, argues Bakhyzhan Kurmanov. In Kazakhstan, a referendum in the name of ‘open government’ is effectively a sham. What's more, it is a cover for autocratic practices of silencing dissent

May 31, 2022

♟️ Varieties of authoritarianism, and how they might be studied

Catherine Owen

Catherine Owen argues that understanding how regime type influences public sector performance can illuminate varieties of ‘authoritarian public policy’ and the resilience of authoritarian states. To do so, she calls on the fields of public administration and comparative politics to work together

May 11, 2022

♟️ Why we must understand civilian participation in military rule

Salah Ben Hammou

Researchers of authoritarian politics and civil-military relations have long examined military rule. However, our understanding of civilian participation in military regimes remains limited and requires greater analytical attention, argues Salah Ben Hammou. Amid last year’s coup resurgence, researchers must move to appreciate the subtle but salient differences among military dictatorships

May 6, 2022

♟️ Autocracies with adjectives: we need better typologies of authoritarian regimes

Hager Ali

The study of regime types, Hager Ali argues, is imbalanced. Theories and concepts of democracy have received attention for decades. But amid the resurgence of autocracies, scholars of authoritarianism still do not have the luxury of nuanced typologies to dissect the broad spectrum of non-democratic regimes

February 15, 2024

♟ The EU didn’t foresee autocratisation in Central and Eastern Europe – neither did political science

James Dawson

The EU did not foresee how autocratisation would unfold in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). But political scientists failed to raise the alarm, too. Lise Herman, James Dawson and Aurelia Ananda show that optimistic assumptions about democratisation misled policy makers and researchers alike

August 15, 2023

Announcing The Loop’s inaugural Best Blog prize

Kate Hawkins

The Loop blog site launched on 12 October 2020. In spring 2021, our team discussed establishing an annual prize for the strongest blog piece published during a calendar year. Managing Editor Kate Hawkins tells the story of the creation of our first-ever award

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