Book Review: The Dictator’s Dilemma at the Ballot Box: Electoral Manipulation, Economic Maneuvering, and Political Order in Autocracies
DateFebruary, 2023
BibliographyGovernance
AuthorYujin Woo
Summary In February 2023, a book review written by Dr. Yujin Woo, GGR researcher a­nd assistant professor at Hitotsubashi University Graduate School of Law, was published in Governance. She reviews The Dictator’s Dilemma at the Ballot Box: Electoral Manipulation, Economic Maneuvering, a­nd Political Order in Autocracies by Masaaki Higashijima, associate professor at the Tohoku University Graduate School of Information Sciences. In this book, Professor Higashijima introduces the concept of “electoral dilemma” a­nd uses this to explain the role that elections play in an authoritarian regime a­nd how the balance of transparency a­nd opacity of elections plays into the survival of the regime. Professor Woo praises the author for broadening our understanding of authoritarianism by building a unified theory that takes into consideration various dimensions a­nd tools for analyzing political regimes. However, she signifies that there is a need for further research into various aspects related to this book, such as the relationship between media a­nd blatant electoral fraud across democracies a­nd autocracies.