Abstract

The article explores the conditions under which incumbent leaders in initially competitive
political systems manage to offset democratic resistance and establish an authoritarian regime.
Autocratisation – the transition from a competitive political system to a regime dominated
by a single political force – is a challenging effort for an incumbent and involves interventions
in three ‘arenas’ to achieve (a) public legitimation, (b) institutional reforms increasing political
repression and (c) mass-scale co-optation. Focusing on Slovakia and Belarus in the 1990s, where
autocratisation efforts failed and succeeded respectively, the article finds that co-optation plays a
catalytic role in helping the incumbent pass institutional reforms and escalate repression without
risking de-legitimation. In Belarus, co-optation engulfed society and the economy whereas, in
Slovakia, a socioeconomic environment with greater autonomy from government limited the
scope for co-optation. The Slovak opposition was able to find the resources and supporters
necessary to fight back against the incumbent.