Share it or Lose it? Ethnic Politics and Authoritarian Stability

In this paper, we examine the impact of ethno-political power struggles on authoritarian stability. We regard ethnic groups as an actor type particularly relevant to the question of authoritarian stability. The aim of this paper is to address a gap in the authoritarianism literature by borrowing concepts from seminal works on ethnic conflicts. By highlighting inclusionary and exclusionary developments within authoritarian regimes and the effects of such moves on regime stability, this paper contributes to a debate on the impact of the up- or downgrading of certain social groups on authoritarian regime survival. Focusing on ethno-political power struggles between included and excluded groups allows us to move one step closer to the actual locus of agency and to adopt a more dynamic perspective than has been the case in the previous literature. It provides a novel and we believe more suitable way of modeling crucial groups in authoritarian regimes.