People like Lenin, Stalin, Mao, they basically lashed out at the entire capitalist world and that lashing out created a counterrevolutionary armed struggle, which in turn contributed to their durability. So, it's that reckless behavior in creating enemies that ultimately led to their creating very strong authoritarian institutions.

Lucan Way

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A full transcript is available at www.democracyparadox.com.

Lucan Way is a professor of political science at the University of Toronto and Co-Director of the Petro Jacyk Program for the Study of Ukraine. Steven Levitsky is the David Rockefeller Professor of Latin American Studies, professor of government, and director of the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies at Harvard University. They are also co-chairs of the editorial board at the Journal of Democracy. They are the authors of the forthcoming book Revolution and Dictatorship: The Violent Origins of Durable Authoritarianism.

Key Highlights

• Introduction - 0:45
• How Recklessness Leads to Authoritarian Durability - 3:17
• Why Revolutions Abandon Pluralism - 16:53
• Revolutions and Institution Building - 22:05
• Why does Durable Authoritarianism Fail - 29:31
• Is the Era of Revolutions Over - 38:01

Key Links

Revolution and Dictatorship: The Violent Origins of Durable Authoritarianism by Steven Levitsky and Lucan Way

Competitive Authoritarianism: Hybrid Regimes after the Cold War by Steven Levitsky and Lucan Way

"The Durability of Revolutionary Regimes" by Steven Levitsky and Lucan Way in the Journal of Democracy

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Lucan Way on Ukraine. Democracy in Hard Places.

Mark Beissinger on Urban Civic Revolutions

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