{"product_id":"revolution-and-dictatorship-the-violent-origins-of-durable-authoritarianism-9780691223582","title":"Revolution and Dictatorship: The Violent Origins of Durable Authoritarianism","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eWhy the world's most resilient dictatorships are products of violent revolution\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eRevolution and Dictatorship\u003c\/i\u003e explores why dictatorships born of social revolution--such as those in China, Cuba, Iran, the Soviet Union, and Vietnam--are extraordinarily durable, even in the face of economic crisis, large-scale policy failure, mass discontent, and intense external pressure. Few other modern autocracies have survived in the face of such extreme challenges. Drawing on comparative historical analysis, Steven Levitsky and Lucan Way argue that radical efforts to transform the social and geopolitical order trigger intense counterrevolutionary conflict, which initially threatens regime survival, but ultimately fosters the unity and state-building that supports authoritarianism. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAlthough most revolutionary governments begin weak, they challenge powerful domestic and foreign actors, often bringing about civil or external wars. These counterrevolutionary wars pose a threat that can destroy new regimes, as in the cases of Afghanistan and Cambodia. Among regimes that survive, however, prolonged conflicts give rise to a cohesive ruling elite and a powerful and loyal coercive apparatus. This leads to the downfall of rival organizations and alternative centers of power, such as armies, churches, monarchies, and landowners, and helps to inoculate revolutionary regimes against elite defection, military coups, and mass protest--three principal sources of authoritarian breakdown. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eLooking at a range of revolutionary and nonrevolutionary regimes from across the globe, \u003ci\u003eRevolution and Dictatorship\u003c\/i\u003e shows why governments that emerge from violent conflict endure.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSteven Levitsky\u003c\/b\u003e is the David Rockefeller Professor of Latin American Studies, professor of government, and director of the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies at Harvard University. His books include \u003ci\u003eHow Democracies Die\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eTransforming Labor-Based Parties in Latin America\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003cb\u003e Lucan Way\u003c\/b\u003e is Distinguished Professor of Democracy in the Department of Political Science and codirector of the Petro Jacyk Program for the Study of Ukraine at the University of Toronto. He is the author of \u003ci\u003ePluralism by Default\u003c\/i\u003e. Levitsky and Way are the coauthors of \u003ci\u003eCompetitive Authoritarianism\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Princeton University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50893258686738,"sku":"9780691223582","price":25.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_f7c3a3fa-0776-423f-8daf-07288385d505.jpg?v=1738228333","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/revolution-and-dictatorship-the-violent-origins-of-durable-authoritarianism-9780691223582","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}