Historical Political Economy of Autocracy

Abstract Autocracy is the most widespread and durable regime type since the emergence of early states. This chapter surveys the literature on key questions that dominate the autocracy research: how autocratic regimes emerge, how they are sustained, how autocracies die, and the legacies autocratic regimes leave behind. The chapter argues that historical political economy (HPE) approaches that adopt a broader temporal lens are especially well positioned to make important contributions to the better understanding of nondemocratic regimes. This chapter also shows how a mixed-method approach utilized by many HPE studies brings us closer to identifying the causal pathways to and from autocracy. Finally, the chapter suggests directions for further HPE research on autocratic regimes.