Personalism and purges: Are personalist dictators more likely to engage in elite purges?

John Ishiyama, Marijke Breuning and Taekbin Kim

Social Science Quarterly, 2024, vol. 105, issue 4, 1180-1192

Abstract: Objective In this article, we empirically examine the relationship between personalism and employing purging or cooptation as regime elite management techniques. Much of the literature suggests that there is a close relationship between personalism and the use of violence to maintain power, and thus suggests a connection between personalism and violent purges. Methods Using data from 109 autocracies from 1946 to 2008, we employ a seemingly unrelated negative binomial regression estimation Results We find that personalist regimes are not more likely to engage in purges when compared to other regimes. Further, the results suggest that personalist regimes are not more likely to rely on purges as an elite management strategy. In fact, our analysis suggests that personalism as a regime attribute (rather than as an institutional type) is associated with less (not more) use of purges and that personalism tends to be more associated with the use of cooptation than purges. Conclusion We offer an explanation for these findings and suggest that future research should focus on the characteristics of the autocrat as a political agent when explaining the propensity to engage in different elite management techniques.

Date: 2024
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