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Plebiscites: a tool for dictatorship

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 December 2021

Alberto Penadés Open the ORCID record for Alberto Penadés [Opens in a new window]  and
Sergio Velasco Open the ORCID record for Sergio Velasco [Opens in a new window]
Alberto Penadés*
Affiliation:
Universidad de Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain
Sergio Velasco
Affiliation:
Universidad de Valladolid, Valladolid, Spain
*
*E-mail: penades@usal.es
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Abstract

The comparative study of authoritarianism has neglected plebiscites, and the comparative study of referendums tends to see in them a form of direct democracy regardless of the regime. We conceptualize dictatorial plebiscites as a genuine authoritarian tool, as part of a repressive strategy with the objective of hindering internal regime rivals and discouraging the coordination of the external opposition. We provide empirical evidence from dictatorships for the period 1946–2008 that is compatible with our expectations.

Keywords

Plebiscitesauthoritarianisminstitutionalism
Type
Research Article
Information
European Political Science Review , Volume 14 , Issue 1 , February 2022 , pp. 74 - 93
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of European Consortium for Political Research

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