Approaches to the Survival of Authoritarian Regimes: An Analytical Review of Contemporary Literature

Abstract

This research provides an analytical review of the general trends in the literature on authoritarian regimes in the field of political science, aiming to address the central question: How are authoritarian regimes studied, and on what analytical elements are these studies based? The study adopts a descriptive–analytical approach to examine and assess the relevant literature, with the aim of uncovering how it has explained the persistence and continuity of these regimes despite facing internal and external challenges.

The research proposes a classification of this literature into three main approaches. The first group focuses on defining authoritarian regimes and identifying their types, emphasizing the conceptual and typological dimensions. The second group pays greater attention to survival strategies, whether through examining interactions within authoritarian institutions—such as elite cohesion and resource distribution—or through analyzing the impact of external factors that either sustain or weaken these regimes. By contrast, the third group adopts a broader framework, combining multiple elements of analysis and linking survival strategies to the institutional and political transformations that these regimes undergo.

The study concludes that this third approach represents the most comprehensive and effective framework for explaining both the persistence and transformation of authoritarian regimes, as it highlights the interconnections among different elements of analysis and reveals the dynamics of continuity and change simultaneously.