“That streets are peaceful does not mean there is no violence.” Authoritarian regimes depend on repression, either preventive or remedial to protect themselves from threats. “Preventive repression is aimed to render mute potential opposition and repress opponents before they carry out any activities that would threaten the stability of the regime. In this sense, preventive… Read more

An excerpt from Guriev and Treisman’s paper that summarises their key arguments is below. “How do dictators hold onto power? The simplest answer is by means of violent repression. A long string of autocrats—from the military dictators Franco and Pinochet to the personalistic tyrants Mobutu and Somoza—have left behind them rivers of blood. Totalitarians such… Read more