Introduction: Repression and Cooptation in Mass Dictatorship

A comparative analysis of the institutions of political domination and control of masi dictatorships highlights some universals regardless of ideoiogical differences and subtypes: violence toward citizens, political repression and institutions of coercion ancl integration. It has at been argued several times (but often forgotten) that repression and integration-cooptation are two itrseparable instruments of domination in mass dictatorships. In fact, as it has been argued often, two basic conflicts shape politics in dictatorships (Svolik 2012): the first is between those who rule and those who are ruled: all dictators face threats from the masses and the political problem of balancing against the majority excluded from power is central-the problem of authoritarian coercion ancl control; yet dictators rarely control enough resources to preclude such challenges on their own-they therefore typically rule with a number of allies. Coóptation of elites is always present as well. Even so, both at the elite and mass level, "violence is an ever-present and the ultimate arbiter of conflicts in authoritarian politics," shaping the conduct of politics in dictatorships (Svolik 2012). Coercion remains the core feature of dictatorships, and fear, violence, intirnidation and surveillance are at the core of political domination and of the maintenance of authoritarianism