Authoritarian Politics (POLS20033)

This subject examines authoritarian politics from a global comparative perspective. Students will explore what autocracy involves, how autocrats come to and lose office, and how they attempt to hold on to power. This involves studying both blunt and sophisticated tactics ranging from indiscriminate physical repression to digital surveillance, as autocrats seek to mitigate threats to their position from foreign powers, elites within their regimes, and their own people.

The subject is structured thematically – for instance, in one week we examine digital tools of autocracy and in another we focus on how dictators deploy their secret police – but students will explore these issues through case studies of autocracies across the world, including Xi Jinping’s China, Kim Jong Un’s North Korea, Vladimir Putin’s Russia, Bashar al-Assad’s Syria, and Robert Mugabe’s Zimbabwe. The subject is therefore truly comparative in outlook, focusing on authoritarian practices across the world, helping students apply this knowledge for policymakers in democracies who seek to confront the challenges that autocracy poses the world today.