Authoritarian Public Sphere

Alexander Dukalskis is an Assistant Professor at University College Dublin, in the School of Politics and International Relations. His work has been published in journals such as Journal of Peace Research, Democratization, Human Rights Quarterly, International Studies Review, and Europe-Asia Studies.

• 1.Introduction: Legitimation & Authoritarianism2. The Authoritarian Public Sphere: 'We Always Had Complaints But Only in Our Minds'3. Authoritarian Power & Legitimating Messages: A Framework for Analysis4. Manipulating the Public Sphere in North Korea, Burma/Myanmar, and China5. Unsettling an Authoritarian Public Sphere? Shadow Markets, Independent Journalism, and the Internet6. Beyond Post-Cold War Asia: Explorations in the Authoritarian Public Sphere7. Conclusion: The Authoritarian Public Sphere and Contemporary Autocracies

"A timely and important contribution to our understanding of how authoritarian regimes interact with and shape public opinion, The Authoritarian Public Sphere is of interest not only to scholars, but to anyone concerned with the persistence of autocracy in our times."Charles Armstrong, Columbia University, USA"Subversive ideas can destabilize nondemocratic regimes. For this reason, all students of autocracies need to understand how the authoritarian public sphere is managed and how anti-regime ideas can still circulate despite strict controls. By analyzing the operation of the authoritarian public sphere in North Korea, Myanmar, and China, Alexander Dukalskis’ important new book provides valuable insight on the resilience of nondemocratic regimes in Asia and contributes to broader debates in the study of authoritarianism."Martin Dimitrov, Tulane University, USA"If autocrats, all things being equal, dig their own graves by repressing public dissent, all things are rarely equal. Alex Dukalskis presents intriguing evidence of the painstaking efforts made by Asia’s most long-standing authoritarian elites to legitimate their rule, as well as of the open and hidden contestations about these claims. Doing so not for isolated cases, but in a comparative perspective, is something many have called for but few have done so far."Heike Holbig, Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main, Germany