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I theorize that a sub-set of states build and maintain authoritarian organizations (AOs) that exist to protect and reinforce authoritarian practices and values. First, I offer a logic for understanding AOs and their contributions to their member states. Second, I develop a framework that hypothesizes a range of benefits that an AO might offer its member states, identifying both material benefits (that contribute to repression and co-optation behaviors) and ideational benefits (that legitimize autocratic behavior) that an AO might provide. Finally, I assess three contemporary AOs: the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). Qualitative evidence shows that AOs most successfully contribute to the ideational side of the dictator’s toolkit, particularly by co-opting civil society into a structure set and maintained by authoritarians, and legitimizing authoritarian rule via distorting authoritarian practices, bandwagoning mutual rhetorical support at the international level, and challenging democracy as a norm of governance, chipping away at the Third and Fourth Waves of democratization. My research challenges the dominant understanding of IOs as generally democratizing actors, by identifying a subset of IOs that deliberately perform against this expectation. This research agenda also furthers our understanding the dictator’s toolkit by adding an international component to explanations of how non-democratic governments survive and counter democratizing pressures at home and abroad. / Political Science

This thesis examines the role of the indigenous movement in Ecuador on the ongoing process of democratization in that country. My study demonstrates that a comprehensive social movement such as Ecuador's indigenous movement has great potential for having a positive impact on democracy. However, these movements are not without their shortcomings which are clearly demonstrated by some of the actions of CONAIE. This study also points out several factors which are crucial in determining social movements' effect on democracy. / Master of Arts

Most scholars who study the transition from authoritarian regimes to democratic ones use an actor-oriented approach, and assume four major actors participate in the negotiated transition. They explain the results of such transitions by analyzing the strategic interactions of these four major actors. If the configuration of actors and their interactions differ from one case to another, then those differences need to be explained. The case of South Korean democratization differs from democratization in other countries in two major respects. First, without significant division within the regime, the opposition bloc can manage to make a transition to democracy by maintaining coordination between the social movements and the moderate opposition party. Second, the U.S. played an important role in the process of negotiation. The negotiated transition model offers no account for the participation of a third party, and it fails to cast light on the participation of the U.S. in the Korean democratization process. This shortcoming can be solved by complementing the negotiated transition model with the mediation model in which the role of a third party can be addressed. Owing to U.S. mediation, the dynamics of negotiated transition changed in the Korean transition to democracy. / Master of Arts

published_or_final_version / Politics and Public Administration / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / Asian Studies / Master / Master of Arts

This thesis seeks to explain how democracies emerge out of the ashes of civil wars. This paper envisions transitions to democracy after a civil war largely as a function of the peace process. Democracy is thought of as a medium through which solutions to the problems and issues over which the civil war was fought can be solved without violence. Transitions to democracy are more likely if there is a large bargaining space and the problems of credible commitments to democratization can be solved. Democratization is more likely if four conditions exist in a state after the civil war: a negotiated settlement, credible commitments via international enforcement, demobilization, and a cooperative international environment. The hypotheses derived are tested through an event history analysis for two different standards of democracy. The results suggest that factors indicative of all four theoretical concepts contribute to the likelihood of democratization after a civil war.

Approved for public release; distribution in unlimited. / This thesis discusses key aspects of the democratization process in post-Castro Cuba following a destructive and chaotic transition of power. The theories of leading democracy and economic theorists are applied to the post-Castro conflict scenario as relevant issues to be addressed by a new Cuban government and the United States in a Cuban transition to democracy. Additionally, the ongoing U.S. efforts in Iraq provided a unique window of opportunity for further scrutiny of democratization theory as select lessons learned from the rebuilding of Iraq are compared to the future democratic transition of Cuba. Even though this thesis took this unique perspective in the democratic transition environment, the resulting research and analysis supported existing theories about the intertwining of political and economic development. The major distinction appears to be the need for greater flexibility in the process, post-conflict, due to the ambiguity involved. What needs to be fixed or rebuilt in Cuba will depend on the severity of damage to the political and economic infrastructure. The theorists selected have been helpful in opening doors for what is relevant during the rebuilding and democratization process, but as was expected, there is not a definitive process to achieving democracy and a free-market economy. / Major, United States Army