Gandhi Jennifer. Political Institutions under Dictatorship

Cambridge University Press, 2010. — 258 p.Often dismissed as window dressing, nominally democratic institutions, such as legislatures and political parties, play an important role in non-democratic regimes.
In a comprehensive cross-national study of all non-democratic states from 1946 to 2002 that examines the political uses of these institutions by dictators, Jennifer Gandhi finds that legislative and partisan institutions are an important component in the operation and survival of authoritarian regimes. She examines how and why these institutions are useful to dictatorships in maintaining power. In their efforts to neutralize threats to their power and to solicit cooperation from society, autocratic leaders use these institutions to organize concessions to potential opposition. The use of legislatures and parties to co-opt opposition results in significant institutional effects on policies and outcomes under dictatorship.Examines the importance of political institutions under dictatorship
Entails a cross-national study of all non-democratic states during the post-World War II period
Utilizes a new dataset on dictatorial institutions for the 1946–2002 period