Democracy or autocracy on the march? The colored revolutions as normal dynamics of patronal presidentialism
- 4 August 2006
- journal article
- Published by University of California Press in Communist and Post-Communist Studies
- Vol. 39 (3), 305-329
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.postcomstud.2006.06.006
Abstract
What impact have Eurasia’s 2003–2005 “colored revolutions” had on the state of democracy and autocracy in the region? The logic of patronal presidentialism, a set of institutions common to post-Soviet countries, suggests that the revolutions are at root succession struggles more than democratic breakthroughs generated by civic activists and foreign democratizing activity. This helps explain why Georgia is experiencing a new retreat from ideal-type democracy while only Ukraine, whose revolution weakened the patronal presidency, has sustained high political contestation after its revolution. This means that autocratic leaders clamping down on non-governmental organizations, free media, and their foreign supporters may have learned the wrong lessons, perhaps making their countries more susceptible to violent revolution than they were before.Keywords
This publication has 15 references indexed in Scilit:
- The Backlash against Democracy PromotionForeign Affairs, 2006
- Regime Cycles: Democracy, Autocracy, and Revolution in Post-Soviet EurasiaWorld Politics, 2005
- What Has Changed in Ukrainian Politics?: Assessing the Implications of the Orange RevolutionProblems of Post-Communism, 2005
- The Ukrainian Orange Revolution brought more than a new president: What kind of democracy will the institutional changes bring?Communist and Post-Communist Studies, 2005
- The last hurrah: The 2004 Ukrainian presidential elections and the limits of machine politicsCommunist and Post-Communist Studies, 2005
- Regime type and politics in Ukraine under KuchmaCommunist and Post-Communist Studies, 2005
- From Kuchma to Yushchenko Ukraine's 2004 Presidential Elections and the Orange RevolutionProblems of Post-Communism, 2005
- Ukraine's Orange RevolutionForeign Affairs, 2005
- Georgia's Rose RevolutionJournal of Democracy, 2004
- Explaining Machine Politics in Russia's Regions: Economy, Ethnicity, and LegacyPost-Soviet Affairs, 2003