«King of the Hill», or why bad institutions in post-communist autocracies

«King of the Hill», or why bad institutions in post-communist autocracies


Melville A.Yu.,

Dr. Sci. (Phil.), Professor, Distinguished Scholar of Russia, Academic Supervisor and Dean, Faculty of Social Science, HSE University, amelville@hse.ru


elibrary_id: 251142 | ORCID: 0000-0002-1414-5783 | RESEARCHER_ID: B-1152-2014

Stukal D.K.,

PhD, Cand. Sci. (Polit. Sci.), Assistant Professor, Faculty of Social Sciences, HSE University, denis.stukal@gmail.com


elibrary_id: 1096522 | ORCID: 0000-0001-6240-5714 | RESEARCHER_ID: ABA-3314-2020

Mironyuk M.G.,

Cand. Sci. (Polit. Sci.), Associate Professor, Faculty of Social Sciences, HSE University,, mmironyuk@hse.ru


elibrary_id: 251177 | ORCID: 0000-0002-8183-3084 | RESEARCHER_ID: K-9102-2015


For citation:

Melville A.Yu., Stukal D.K., Mironyuk M.G. «King of the Hill», or why bad institutions in post-communist autocracies. – Polis. Political Studies. 2013. No. 2



Abstract

Numerous researchers in comparative politics have pointed at non-linear J-shaped link between state capacity and democracy. This claim suggests that consolidated autocracies possess higher levels of state capacity than hybrid regimes. We test this conjecture using post-communist sample, 1989 - 2010, and do not find supporting evidence. The paper presents an original approach to measurement of state capacity and an informal model of the “king of the hill” explaining low quality of institutions in post-communist autocracies.

Keywords
state capacity; democracy; quality of institutions; post-communist regimes.


Content No. 2, 2013

See also:


Akhremenko A.S., Gorelskiy I.E., Melville A.Yu.,
How and Why Should We Measure and Compare State Capacity of Different Countries? Theoretical and Methodological Foundations. – Polis. Political Studies. 2019. No2

Parma R.V., Rastorguev S.V., Tyan Yu.S.,
Influence of political institutions on economic growth in the countries of the world. – Polis. Political Studies. 2022. No1

Melville A.Yu., Stukal D.K., Mironyuk M.G.,
Trajectories of regime transformations and types of state consistency. – Polis. Political Studies. 2012. No2

Akhremenko A.S., Gorelskiy I.E., Melville A.Yu.,
How and Why Should We Measure and Compare State Capacity of Different Countries? An Experiment with Empirical Research. – Polis. Political Studies. 2019. No3

Merkel B., Croissant A.,
Formal and Informal Institutions in Defective Democracies (1). – Polis. Political Studies. 2002. No1


Screen version