Authoritarianism in an Age of Democratization

Jason Brownlee is Assistant Professor of Government at the University of Texas, Austin. Prior to arriving at the University of Texas, he was a post-doctoral Fellow at Stanford University's Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law. Professor Brownlee's research addresses domestic and international processes of democratization. His work has appeared in Comparative Politics, Studies in Comparative International Development and the Journal of Democracy.

"Why does conducting elections sometimes undermine authoritarian regimes and sometimes seem to fortify them? Jason Brownlee answers this timely and provocative question in his study of four countries where elections produced unexpected outcomes: Egypt, Iran, Malaysia and the Philippines. From his close and careful reading of these electoral experiments, Brownlee concludes that their outcomes were shaped by the strength and solidity of the ruling parties. For scholars, students and policymakers alike, this salutary emphasis on the institutions that sustain and betray political regimes in transition is a valuable contribution, not only to the political science of democratization, but also to the policy debates about democracy promotion." -Lisa Anderson, Columbia University

• 1. The political origins of durable authoritarianism; 2. The inception of ruling parties; 3. Institutional legacies and coalitional tensions; 4. Ruling parties and regime persistence: Egypt and Malaysia during the third wave; 5. Elite defections and electoral defeat: Iran during the third wave; 6. Confrontation and democratization: the Philippines during the third wave; 7. Conclusions.