Hall, Stephen (2014). Can authoritarian regimes learn? The cases of Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia and Ukraine. University of Birmingham. M.A.

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Abstract

Authoritarian learning has received scant attention in academic literature. This analysis emphasises how authoritarian regimes in the former-Soviet Union (FSU) learn from one another to consolidate authoritarianism. The argument is that regimes use similar tactics and institutions to consolidate authoritarianism. The study uses the cases of Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia and Ukraine to offer comprehensive analysis of authoritarian consolidation. Using a methodology of case studies, longitudinal analysis and discourse analysis, I show that these regimes have become more authoritarian, using similar tactics and building comparable institutions. The research suggests that the cases share similar characteristics that seem unlikely to have appeared in each state by themselves. Learning is the most applicable explanation for this. The investigation uses hypotheses that make a strong case for authoritarian learning. The thesis argues that existing authoritarian typologies should explain a few cases which share similarities. Currently, literature uses a chosen rubric universally to explain many cases. This weakens typologies, exhausting effectiveness in explaining different authoritarian regimes.

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