by: Fabio Angiolillo and Austin S. Matthews
| How do dictators purge their ruling parties of insider threats? Previous literature has placed the focus on elite (horizontal) purges or mass (vertical) purges, speaking to the conditions under which each takes place and who they specifically target. However, links between elites and masses in these regimes may be strong, as elites often pack their respective fiefdoms with loyalists that depend on them for future benefits. As such, repression aimed at certain elites will also need to account for those masses in the party from which they draw strength. We seek to explore the sequencing and strategies between the coordinated use of elite and mass “diagonal” purges. Using new data on ruling party membership in dictatorships and the exit types of top ruling elites, we find that diagonal purges more often take the form of simultaneous removal of entire elite-mass factions, rather than sequential removal. We also find evidence that diagonal purges are beneficial for increasing autocrat survival, as well as being linked to threats the dictator perceives from abroad. These findings help policymakers to better understand and react to major power contests in party dictatorships, which may be seen at the mass membership level before simultaneous actions at the top are known. |
Authoritarian Political Systems Group 