Autocrats and peaceful resignation in the post-Soviet space: is there a political culture explanation?
Pisareva D.
2024Routledge
East European Politics
2024#40Issue 3495 - 520 pp.
When faced with large-scale dissent, autocracies often use repression. However, in some cases, autocrats resign peacefully, raising the question of why they do not prioritise the survival of their regime. I investigate a culture-related explanation I term “moderating” theory–that high levels of a countrys support for democracy have a “moderating” cognitive effect on autocrats decision-making–in two case studies: Georgia and Armenia. In 2003, President Eduard Shevardnadze (1995-2003) of Georgia peacefully stepped down following a large-scale electoral protest. In Armenia 2018, Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan (2008-2018) abandoned his position without using military force when faced with mass dissent.
Armenia , authoritarian violence , colour revolutions , Democratic protest , democratic support , Georgia , political violence , repression , rose revolution , velvet revolution
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Department of Political Studies and International Relations, Nazarbayev University, Astana, Kazakhstan
Department of Political Studies and International Relations
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