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Biology

Authoritarian Resilience and the Toolkit of Autocratic Legitimation

Quick fact

Many autocrats do not rely solely on force: they actively cultivate legitimacy through elections, economic growth, and nationalist rhetoric—and research shows that perceived legitimacy strongly reduces popular resistance even when rulers are unpopular.

Why this is interesting

We often assume that people obey dictators only because they fear the police. But if that were the whole story, why do so many authoritarian regimes survive for decades, even when repression is hardly visible?