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Power Sharing and Authoritarian Stability: How Rebel Regimes Solve the Guardianship Dilemma

Harvard Dataverse (Africa Rice Center, Bioversity International, CCAFS, CIAT, IFPRI, IRRI and WorldFish)

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Title Power Sharing and Authoritarian Stability: How Rebel Regimes Solve the Guardianship Dilemma
 
Identifier https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/8LQZW9
 
Creator Meng, Anne
Paine, Jack
 
Publisher Harvard Dataverse
 
Description Regimes founded in rebellion are, typically, extremely durable. We propose that this stabil- ity is founded upon peaceful power sharing between the rebel regime leader and military elites. Amid long and intense fighting, rebel leaders must delegate control to top military commanders because doing so helps them to win battles. After seizing power, power-sharing deals between former combatants are highly credible due to their history of interactions, which mitigates the guardianship dilemma. Elsewhere, a persistent internal security dilemma often undermines power-sharing deals. Using originally collected data on African regimes from 1960–2017, we establish that rebel regimes break down seldomly compared to other authoritarian regimes, and experience fewer coups. Regarding the mechanism, rebel regimes more frequently share power with military elites by appointing a Minister of Defense. These Ministers are typically high-ranking members of the rebellion, which reflects the regime’s replacement of the state military with their own.
 
Subject Social Sciences
 
Contributor Meng, Anne