Review "This book represents a major contribution to the resurgent study of non-democratic regimes. It is one of the first substantial pieces of modern social scientific analysis of the phenomenon, skillfully combining formal and quantitative cross-national analysis with country case studies. It will have a major impact in the study of modern authoritarian regimes." -Miriam A. Golden, Professor of Political Science, University of California at Los Angeles "Jennifer Gandhi's book is not just a study of dictatorship, but an important contribution to comparative politics in general. While its topic is political institutions under dictatorship, its definition of dictatorship is the residual of a prominent and widely used definition and measure of democracy, so it builds a bridge between studies of democracy and of dictatorship. Her three kinds of dictatorship and two kinds of institutions produce a rich and informative empirical analysis in which she explains variation in the longevity, policy and performance of non-democratic governments." -William R Keech, Professor Emeritus of Political Economy, Carnegie Mellon University "Jennifer Gandhi has written a dazzling book. With incisive theorizing, a remarkable combination of formal theory and statistical analysis, and rich case studies, Gandhi has produced one of the first systematic comparative treatments of autocracy. Two of her main conclusions are that political institutions such as legislatures and political parties enable political bargains between dictators and their potential opponents, and that these institutions have major impacts on a wide range of outcomes, including economic performance. A must-read for anyone interested in comparative politics, political regimes and the political economy of development." -Beatriz Magaloni-Kerpel, Stanford University "In Political Institutions under Dictatorship, Jennifer Gandhi provides important insights into the role that political parties and legislatures play in dictatorships. She disputes characterizations of these institutions as simple 'window dressing,' finding instead that political parties and legislatures can play an important role in policy formation, implementation and regime survival. The reason, she argues, is that these institutions provide an arena within which incumbents and potential opponents can forge policy compromises. Her analysis of these effects through an impressive database of dictatorships in the post-war era is clear and refreshingly frank. Political Institutions under Dictatorship is a must-read for scholars interested in authoritarian politics." -Ellen Lust-Okar, Associate Professor of Political Science, Yale University "Gandhi breaks new ground in this theoretically and empirically rich book on authoritarian regimes that have adopted legislative institutions. These regimes are likely to spend somewhat less on the military, have a better human rights record, and provide more benefits to workers than their autocratic counterparts. While all of this sounds positive, Gandhi warns--contrary to the linear model of progressive democratization posited in modernization theory--that partial reforms may in fact allow authoritarian governments to prolong their rule by coopting the opposition." -Frances Rosenbluth, Yale University "Jennifer Gandhi's book is a welcome addition to this literature." Perspectives on Politics, Susan Rose-Ackerman, Yale University Product Description 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, 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, analyzing the way dictators utilize institutions as a forum in which to organize political concessions to potential opposition in an effort to neutralize threats to their power and to solicit cooperation from groups outside of the ruling elite. The use of legislatures and parties to co-opt opposition results in significant institutional effects on policies and outcomes under dictatorship.

Why would authoritarian leaders ever lose elections? Valerie J. Bunce and Sharon L. Wolchik answer this question by analyzing a remarkable run of electoral victories by the opposition in postcommunist Europe and Eurasia from 1998 to 2005. They conclude that these upset elections occurred because of the hard and creative work of a transnational network that was committed to electoral change and composed of local opposition and civil society groups, members of the international democracy assistance community, and graduates of successful electoral challenges to authoritarian rule in other countries.

What drives politics in dictatorships? Milan W. Svolik argues authoritarian regimes must resolve two fundamental conflicts. Dictators face threats from the masses over which they rule – the problem of authoritarian control. Secondly from the elites with whom dictators rule – the problem of authoritarian power-sharing. Using the tools of game theory, Svolik explains why some dictators establish personal autocracy and stay in power for decades; why elsewhere leadership changes are regular and institutionalized, as in contemporary China; why some dictatorships are ruled by soldiers, as Uganda was under Idi Amin; why many authoritarian regimes, such as PRI-era Mexico, maintain regime-sanctioned political parties; and why a country's authoritarian past casts a long shadow over its prospects for democracy, as the unfolding events of the Arab Spring reveal. Svolik complements these and other historical case studies with the statistical analysis on institutions, leaders and ruling coalitions across dictatorships from 1946 to 2008.

这部权威著作代表了作者毕生研究民主崩溃、民主转型与民主巩固所达到的顶峰，它在很多领域开辟了新的天地。作者重新概括了当代非民主政体的主要类型，并探讨了每种类型向民主转型的可行道路和民主巩固所要完成的任务。作者提出的对民主的巩固而言必需的五个场域——公民社会、政治社会、法治、官僚机构和经济社会——以及诸如“后全能主义”等更加宽广的分析范畴，将成为规范的分析框架，而他们对前共产主义世界的研究，也标志着苏联学开始回归主流比较政治学。 无可置疑，本书将成为有关建立民主政体的最重要文献。所有对民主感兴趣的人以及研究东欧、中欧和南美的学者都会怀着极大的兴趣来阅读本书。

福山以观察入微的笔触，逐一分析了美、法、德、意、日韩以及华人文化传统及其经济活动特色，详尽而细密地考察了社会信任度在各国经济生活上的角色，读者可以从中清楚地了解文化对经济发展的真正重要性。经济行为是社会生活中至关重要的一环，它由各种习俗、规则、道德义务以及其他各种习惯连缀在一起，塑造着社会。本书将会证明，一个国家的繁盛和竞争力是由某一普遍性的文化特征所决定的，即社会本身所固有的信任程度。对于想了解经济而又能体会经济乃是大社会文化之一环的人来说，这本书提供了一个全新的经济学研究方向。