Authoritarian Gravity Centers

Marianne Kneuer is Professor for Political Science, Director of the Institute of Social Sciences at the University of Hildesheim, Germany and current President of International Political Science Association (IPSA). Her research interests include studying comparative regime studies, quality of democracy, and democratization, especially the international dimension of democratization and of autocratization.Thomas Demmelhuber is Professor of Middle East Politics and Society at the Friedrich-Alexander-University of Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany. Demmelhuber’s research focuses on state, power, and politics in the Middle East from a comparative perspective, including that of international actors such as the European Union.

• Part I: Concept 1. Autocratization and its Pull and Push Factors – A Challenge for Comparative Research 2. Conceptualizing Authoritarian Gravity Centers: Sources and Addressees, Mechanisms and Motives of Authoritarian Pressure and Attraction Part II: Empirical Studies on Authoritarian Gravity Centers 3. Kingdom of Gravity: Autocratic Promotion and Diffusion in Saudi Arabia 4. Democratic Erosion and Autocratization in Latin America: The Role of Venezuela as an Authoritarian Gravity Centre 5. Kazakhstan: A Possible Future Authoritarian Gravity Centre? Part III: The International Dimension of Authoritarianism Revisited 6. Russia’s Effects on a Consolidated Democracy: The Erosion of Democracy in Hungary and the Putin Model 7. Iran and its Neighbors: Military Assistance as Support for Authoritarianism 8. Networking with Chinese Characteristics: China’s Party-to-Party Relations in Asia 9. Spreading Cyber-Autocracy? The Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the Diffusion of Norms of “Internet Sovereignty” Part IV: Authoritarianism Gravity Centres in Cross-Regional Comparison 10. Authoritarian Gravity Centres in Cross-Regional Comparison: Future Studies and the International Dimension of Authoritarianism

"What accounts for the recent spread of autocracy in the world? This important book develops a systematic conceptualization of the 'attraction' exerted by powerful authoritarian regimes and demonstrates its analytical usefulness through well-chosen and thoroughly researched case studies. An interesting guide to understanding democracy's current predicament!"Kurt Weyland, Mike Hogg Professor in Liberal Arts, University of Texas at Austin"Based on painstaking research in different regions of the world, this thought-provoking set of studies provides new explanations for the regional clustering of autocracies."Marlies Glassius, Professor of International Relations, University of Amsterdam