Over the last decade the share of the world's population living under autocracy increased from 48 to 68 percent. It is more important than ever to understand how autocracies work. Autocrats have a keen interest in promoting the idea that they are all powerful. Whereas leaders in democracies can be removed via elections, leaders in autocracies can lose office in two ways: via a coup or popular revolt. To make matters worse, autocrats can rarely address both threats at the same time. They often have to choose whether to reward their elite cronies to prevent a coup or the masses to prevent a revolt. This generates many difficult trade-offs. Cheat too little on elections and risk losing office, but cheat too much and signal weakness to your opponents. Use corruption to reward your elite friends, but not so much that it slows economic growth and sparks a revolt. Manipulate the media, but not so much that people turn off the television. Repress your political opponents, but not so much that it causes a backlash. Empower the security services, but not so much that they can overthrow you. Rulers who fail to resolve these trade-offs often suffer the consequences.
Autocrats have a keen interest in promoting the idea that they are all powerful. Whereas leaders in democracies can be removed via elections, leaders in autocracies can lose office in two ways, either via a coup or popular revolt. They often have to choose whether to reward their elite cronies to prevent a coup or the masses to prevent a revolt, which generates many difficult trade-offs. Rulers who fail to resolve these trade-offs often suffer the consequences.
