RT info:eu-repo/semantics/doctoralThesis
T1 Los mecanismos de democracia directa y su uso en contextos autocráticos
A1 Velasco Monje, Sergio
A2 Universidad de Valladolid. Escuela de Doctorado
K1 Economía política
K1 Direct democracy
K1 Democracia directa
K1 Authoritarism
K1 Autoritarismo
K1 Political Economy
K1 Economía Política
K1 53 Ciencias Económicas
AB Direct democracy mechanisms, such as referendums and plebiscites, seem to belong exclusively to democratic systems. However, a large number of autocracies have employed them throughout their rule, subverting the democratic intention of the instrument. Despite this, recent literature does not treat them as natural tools of autocratic systems but rather as potential opportunities to overthrow authoritarian regimes. In this doctoral thesis, we investigate the potential of the plebiscite as a repressive mechanism in the hands of an autocratic system. Likewise, we address the study of the utility of this mechanism for the autocrat.Through the use of statistical tools, we find a significant correlation between the use of direct democracy mechanisms and the implementation of repressive agendas by autocrats, as well as a clear benefit for them: achieving the silencing of both external and internal opposition to the regime. However, we discovered that this effect is transitory. Therefore, we have also examined those regimes that recurringly resort to plebiscites. We confirm that these systems face the contradiction of being led by highly personalistic autocrats while maintaining control systems over that same autocrat. To sustain this balance, the autocrat makes habitual use of the plebiscitary tool.
YR 2024
FD 2024
LK https://uvadoc.uva.es/handle/10324/74676
UL https://uvadoc.uva.es/handle/10324/74676
LA spa
NO Escuela de Doctorado
DS UVaDOC
RD 26-feb-2025