How and When People Resist Autocratization

When do people resist? Comparing The Philippines and Thailand

What factors matter in determining whether people resist autocratization? Researchers compared the processes of autocratization in The Philippines and in Thailand and concluded that although people had more access to power to resist in the Philippines (through fair elections, checks and balances, and civil society), resistance to autocratization was stronger in Thailand. The authors propose that a more important factor in determining when people resist is whether the autocrat legitimized their power by taking it through democratic processes. Since the process of autocratization in the Philippines was accomplished through democracy, resistance is lower. This highlights the importance of building robust political systems which are resistant to autocratic takeover through democratic means.

Negotiating Attitudes toward Autocratization in Turkiye

In 2017, Turkiye held a referendum on changing from a parliamentary system to an autocratic “super-presidential” system with a very strong president, which was widely seen as a referendum on a presidency for Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The referendum narrowly passed. After the referendum, researchers wondered whether voters’ attitudes towards this autocratization were based on their preferences for a form of government or merely reflected their partisan preferences for or against Erdoğan. A survey experiment found that voters' attitudes towards autocratization of the presidency shifted depending on how likely it was that their preferred candidate would win. This was especially the case for people with a greater mistrust of their political opponents. These results emphasize how much support for autocratization may reflect partisanship rather than attitudes toward democracy.

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