
Sign up to save your podcasts
Or


When Robert Mugabe was deposed last year, he had ruled Zimbabwe for nearly four decades. How do dictators and authoritarians stay in power? James Tilley, a professor of politics at Oxford University in the UK, finds out what's in the dictators' survival guide. How do they control ordinary people and stop revolts? How do they stop rivals from taking over? And why are elections often helpful to securing their rule?
Producer: Bob Howard.
(Photo: Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe looks on during his inauguration and swearing-in ceremony on August 22, 2013 Credit: ALEXANDER JOE/AFP/Getty Images)
By BBC World Service4.6
695695 ratings
When Robert Mugabe was deposed last year, he had ruled Zimbabwe for nearly four decades. How do dictators and authoritarians stay in power? James Tilley, a professor of politics at Oxford University in the UK, finds out what's in the dictators' survival guide. How do they control ordinary people and stop revolts? How do they stop rivals from taking over? And why are elections often helpful to securing their rule?
Producer: Bob Howard.
(Photo: Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe looks on during his inauguration and swearing-in ceremony on August 22, 2013 Credit: ALEXANDER JOE/AFP/Getty Images)

7,913 Listeners

376 Listeners

523 Listeners

863 Listeners

1,067 Listeners

296 Listeners

5,576 Listeners

1,808 Listeners

977 Listeners

586 Listeners

2,113 Listeners

357 Listeners

965 Listeners

410 Listeners

429 Listeners

227 Listeners

841 Listeners

363 Listeners

75 Listeners

471 Listeners

240 Listeners

346 Listeners

235 Listeners

326 Listeners

3,245 Listeners

73 Listeners

689 Listeners

528 Listeners

630 Listeners

394 Listeners

239 Listeners

54 Listeners

80 Listeners

96 Listeners