Bridling dictators

Authoritarian regimes are usually seen as being run by arbitrary and often violent dictators. However, this is a misreading of most dictatorial regimes. Based on a wide comparative analysis of communist single-party, military, electoral authoritarian, personal dictatorial and dynastic monarchical regimes, this book argues that such leaderships actually function on the basis of a set of accepted rules. These rules are outlined, their operation in different regime types described, and their differential application across those regimes explained. This provides a new understanding of how these different types of regime function and recasts our understanding of the way leadership in authoritarian regimes works.