Collective abdication-the transfer of authority to a leader who threatens democracy-usually flows from one of two sources. The first is the misguided belief that an authoritarian can be controlled or tamed. The second is what sociologist Ivan Ermakoff calls "ideological collusion," in which the authoritarian's agenda overlaps sufficiently with that of mainstream politicians that abdication is desirable, or at least preferable to the alternatives.
( Steven Levitsky )
[ How Democracies Die: What ]
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