POLITICAL ECONOMY: Strength in Numbers? State Capacity, Military Power and Repression in Authoritarian Regimes; Professor Tiberiu Dragu (New York University)

Abstract

Repressive capacity and military power are important explanatory variables in scholarly research on both domestic politics and the external relations of authoritarian governments. Despite their relevance, these concepts remain difficult to quantify, and in empirical research, security spending or personnel numbers are frequently used as proxy measures. We develop a formal model to demonstrate that higher security spending levels are associated with lower repressive capacity in the face of increased corruption and other agency problems within the security services. The findings offer insight into the complicated link between a regime’s resources, budgetary allocations, and actual effectiveness of security forces, with important implications for our understanding of state capacity and the repressive strength of authoritarian regimes.

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