Personalization and Autocratization

This conference paper intends to become the building block of the conceptual framework of a dissertation on the overarching topic of “personalism” and its various appearances in the 20th and 21st century, most notably asking the question about which role personalization of power takes on in autocratization processes and what potential implications could arise from this. It concerns itself firstly with past conceptualizations of personalism as well as their differences and flaws and then goes on to the question of how conceptualization and operationalization can be integrated into a comprehensive framework. The goal of this is then to build a measure of characterizing when a backsliding2 or autocratization3 spell is distinguished by increased personalization and when not as a means of exploring the nexus between the aforementioned concepts and what semantic differentiations are to be minded when applying them. Suggestions on how to streamline both the conceptual part, especially when it comes to integrating or differentiating notions of personalism in democratic (and in this case oftentimes presidential) settings, as well as on methodological approaches to achieve a sound conceptualization and then derive a solid strategy of identifying when a backsliding spell is characterized by personalization are greatly appreciated. While this research is still very initial and this paper mainly serves to convey the basic ideas that I have, I do hope to eventually refine it into an article that explores the relationship between personalization of power and autocratization.