Elections Without Democracy: The Rise of Competitive Authoritarianism

Issue Date April 2002
Volume 13
Issue 2
Page Numbers 51-65
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In recent years, new types of nondemocratic government have come to the fore, notably competitive authoritarianism. Such regimes, though not democratic, feature arenas of contestation in which opposition forces can challenge, and even oust, authoritarian incumbents.

Further Reading

Volume 13, Issue 2

Elections Without Democracy: Africa’s Range of Regimes

Today, Africa south of the Sahara has a relatively small number of both democracies and full-blown dictatorships,along with a large number of hard-to-define regimes that fit neither category.

Volume 31, Issue 4

Covid vs. Democracy: India’s Illiberal Remedy

India’s covid-19 response has accelerated the country’s slide toward competitive authoritarian rule by centralizing decision making, undermining federalism, and providing new pretexts for stifling dissent.

Volume 30, Issue 1

Cambodia’s Transition to Hegemonic Authoritarianism

A crackdown on the opposition, followed by sham parliamentary elections in July 2018, has deepened and extended the decades-long personalist dictatorship of Hun Sen.