The Roots of the Authoritarian State in Africa: African politics in the post-colonial era has been marred by authoritarianism, corruption, military intervention, and leadership failures amidst a broader socio-economic crisis characterized by poverty. U …

A democratic society makes a clear distinction between state and society and there is a constitutional limitation on the power of the state. This consists of demarcation of activities as those, which the state is well adapted to perform, and those, whi …

Tom Ginsburg and Alberto Simpser: An old Soviet joke has it that a man goes into a restaurant and surveys the menu. “I’ll have the chicken,” he says, only to be told by the waiter that the restaurant is out of chicken. He asks for the beef, only to be …

Steven Levitsky and Lucan A. Way:  “Politics…is not like football, deserving a level playing field. Here, you try that and you will be roasted.” Former Kenyan President Daniel arap Moi. What is Competitive Authoritarianism?: Competitive authoritarian r …

Hilary Matfess: The development community’s analysis of fragile states overlooks the variety of governance patterns exhibited by these countries. Most notably, it frequently does not take into account the differences between authoritarian states—some m …

Robert Herman: The recent pressure on civil society and independent media in Kenya is not only a significant threat to democracy in a geopolitically important country, but also the predictable outcome of the international community’s failure to punish …

Yao Yang: Authoritarian State… International observers frequently link China’s economic success to authoritarianism. And when it comes to the comparison between China and Western countries, the issue is often framed by the contrast between the Beijin …