Yonatan L Morse
Biographic Data
| ID | 315659 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Yonatan L Morse |
| GIVEN NAMES | Yonatan L |
| FAMILY NAME | Morse |
| SIGNATURE | MORSE Y L |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Connecticut |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-4366-5446 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 15 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 153 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 15 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2012 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 6 |
The Geography of Constituency Service in an Autocracy
Unpacking candidate selection in authoritarian regimes
Why do autocratic ruling parties adopt certain candidate selection processes, and what effects do they have on political outcomes? This article argues that many contemporary autocracies democratize candidate selection to address the demands of multiparty elections, but that this creates unforeseen hazards. Autocrats centralize candidate selection to reassert control over the composition of legislatures, but not necessarily to recruit more effecti…
Democratic contestation, organised labour, and pension reform in Ghana and Malawi
What explains variation in African states' commitment to pensions? This article argues that differences in the structure of contestation and legacies of state‐labour relations matter. When competition is confined to fewer and more stable parties, social welfare appeals gain currency to mobilise swing voters and makes it more likely that pensions will become a subject of political competition. However, legacies of labour accommodation can strength…
Autocratic Legalism, Partisanship, and Popular Legitimation in Authoritarian Cameroon
Authoritarian regimes regularly turn to the law to justify repression. This article examines whether invoking legal institutions has a persuasive effect on public perceptions of repression, and whether that effect is shaped by partisanship. The article uses the case of Cameroon’s Special Criminal Tribunal, created in 2011 to prosecute high-profile corruption cases. A survey experiment was designed that describes the arrest and trial of a suspecte…
Pathways to Power in Authoritarian Regimes
Legislatures are key institutions that stabilize authoritarian rule. However, less is said about the individuals who populate these institutions or the pathways that take them to power. This is an oversight, since how autocrats recruit reflects upon their institutional capacities and adaptation to changing circumstances. Specifically, recruitment is challenging when regimes lack robust ruling parties to cultivate partisan loyalists and during per…
The legislature as political control
A growing literature has begun to more closely examine African legislatures. However, most of this research has been attentive to emerging democratic settings, and particularly the experiences of a select number of English-speaking countries. By contrast, Cameroon is a Francophone majority country that reintroduced multiparty politics in the early 1990s but continues to exhibit significant authoritarian tendencies. This article provides a longitu…
Rebuilding, rebranding, and competitive landscapes
This study reevaluates debates over what has allowed authoritarian successor parties (ASPs) to overcome the baggage associated with their past and remain competitive after the Third Wave. Current scholarship points to variation in several factors – the degree to which ASPs can rebuild support using resources from the authoritarian past, the ability of ASPs to rebrand themselves, and the extent to which the new competitive landscape provides elect…
Elite interviews in the developing world
Recently researchers have built on field experiences from novel and challenging settings to develop new insights into elite interviewing strategies, and specifically the question of access. One such context that has been underexplored is the weaker institutional environment found in much of the developing world. Many of the common suggestions regarding access emphasize an elite's relative insularity and unwillingness to participate in research du…
How Autocrats Compete
Most autocrats now hold unfair elections, yet how they compete in them and manipulate them differs greatly. How Autocrats Compete advances a theory that explains variation in electoral authoritarian competition. Using case studies of Tanzania, Cameroon, and Kenya, along with broader comparisons from Africa, it finds that the kind of relationships autocrats foster with supporters and external actors matters greatly during elections. When autocrats…
Electoral authoritarianism and weak states in Africa
State capacity is arguably an essential factor that stabilizes electoral authoritarian rule. Yet, in the context of sub-Saharan Africa many measures of state capacity are generally weak. What therefore explains the persistence of electoral authoritarianism in Africa? This study provides a comparison of Tanzania and Cameroon to highlight two divergent reactions to the problem of power consolidation in Africa. In Cameroon, a centralized presidency …
Presidential power and democratization by elections in Africa
Do elections in and of themselves provide mechanisms for democratization? The “democratization by elections” thesis has been challenged, yet scholars still differ over its substantive effect. Some of the disagreement is over the specific outcome of interest, with proponents advocating for a narrower definition of “democratization”. Others want to know more about the factors that condition how elections impact on democracy. This article addresses …
The Politics of Uncertainty
From Single-Party to Electoral Authoritarian Regimes
Party matters
Electoral authoritarianism has emerged as a primary mode of authoritarian rule in the post-Cold War era. It is also a notably heterogeneous phenomenon, in terms of both its impact upon incumbents and the quality of contestation. This article investigates a specific type of electoral authoritarian outcome, a competitive hegemony. In competitive hegemonies regimes are able to dominate elections by large vote margins, but with comparatively much low…
The Era of Electoral Authoritarianism
In recent years scholarly attention has shifted from the study of democratization to the phenomenon of electoral authoritarianism. In these regimes, regular elections are held for national legislatures and chief executives, yet they fail to live up to democratic standards of freedom and fairness. A range of new research has investigated these regimes and especially the capacity of elections to either dislodge or reinvigorate authoritarian incumbe…
The Era of Electoral Authoritarianism
In recent years scholarly attention has shifted from the study of democratization to the phenomenon of electoral authoritarianism. In these regimes, regular elections are held for national legislatures and chief executives, yet they fail to live up to democratic standards of freedom and fairness. A range of new research has investigated these regimes and especially the capacity of elections to either dislodge or reinvigorate authoritarian incumbe…
Party matters
Electoral authoritarianism has emerged as a primary mode of authoritarian rule in the post-Cold War era. It is also a notably heterogeneous phenomenon, in terms of both its impact upon incumbents and the quality of contestation. This article investigates a specific type of electoral authoritarian outcome, a competitive hegemony. In competitive hegemonies regimes are able to dominate elections by large vote margins, but with comparatively much low…
From Single-Party to Electoral Authoritarian Regimes
Electoral authoritarianism and weak states in Africa
State capacity is arguably an essential factor that stabilizes electoral authoritarian rule. Yet, in the context of sub-Saharan Africa many measures of state capacity are generally weak. What therefore explains the persistence of electoral authoritarianism in Africa? This study provides a comparison of Tanzania and Cameroon to highlight two divergent reactions to the problem of power consolidation in Africa. In Cameroon, a centralized presidency …
Elite interviews in the developing world
Recently researchers have built on field experiences from novel and challenging settings to develop new insights into elite interviewing strategies, and specifically the question of access. One such context that has been underexplored is the weaker institutional environment found in much of the developing world. Many of the common suggestions regarding access emphasize an elite's relative insularity and unwillingness to participate in research du…
Presidential power and democratization by elections in Africa
Do elections in and of themselves provide mechanisms for democratization? The “democratization by elections” thesis has been challenged, yet scholars still differ over its substantive effect. Some of the disagreement is over the specific outcome of interest, with proponents advocating for a narrower definition of “democratization”. Others want to know more about the factors that condition how elections impact on democracy. This article addresses …
Pathways to Power in Authoritarian Regimes
Legislatures are key institutions that stabilize authoritarian rule. However, less is said about the individuals who populate these institutions or the pathways that take them to power. This is an oversight, since how autocrats recruit reflects upon their institutional capacities and adaptation to changing circumstances. Specifically, recruitment is challenging when regimes lack robust ruling parties to cultivate partisan loyalists and during per…
Rebuilding, rebranding, and competitive landscapes
This study reevaluates debates over what has allowed authoritarian successor parties (ASPs) to overcome the baggage associated with their past and remain competitive after the Third Wave. Current scholarship points to variation in several factors – the degree to which ASPs can rebuild support using resources from the authoritarian past, the ability of ASPs to rebrand themselves, and the extent to which the new competitive landscape provides elect…
Autocratic Legalism, Partisanship, and Popular Legitimation in Authoritarian Cameroon
Authoritarian regimes regularly turn to the law to justify repression. This article examines whether invoking legal institutions has a persuasive effect on public perceptions of repression, and whether that effect is shaped by partisanship. The article uses the case of Cameroon’s Special Criminal Tribunal, created in 2011 to prosecute high-profile corruption cases. A survey experiment was designed that describes the arrest and trial of a suspecte…
The Politics of Uncertainty
The legislature as political control
A growing literature has begun to more closely examine African legislatures. However, most of this research has been attentive to emerging democratic settings, and particularly the experiences of a select number of English-speaking countries. By contrast, Cameroon is a Francophone majority country that reintroduced multiparty politics in the early 1990s but continues to exhibit significant authoritarian tendencies. This article provides a longitu…
Unpacking candidate selection in authoritarian regimes
Why do autocratic ruling parties adopt certain candidate selection processes, and what effects do they have on political outcomes? This article argues that many contemporary autocracies democratize candidate selection to address the demands of multiparty elections, but that this creates unforeseen hazards. Autocrats centralize candidate selection to reassert control over the composition of legislatures, but not necessarily to recruit more effecti…
The Era of Electoral Authoritarianism
In recent years scholarly attention has shifted from the study of democratization to the phenomenon of electoral authoritarianism. In these regimes, regular elections are held for national legislatures and chief executives, yet they fail to live up to democratic standards of freedom and fairness. A range of new research has investigated these regimes and especially the capacity of elections to either dislodge or reinvigorate authoritarian incumbe…
Party matters
Electoral authoritarianism has emerged as a primary mode of authoritarian rule in the post-Cold War era. It is also a notably heterogeneous phenomenon, in terms of both its impact upon incumbents and the quality of contestation. This article investigates a specific type of electoral authoritarian outcome, a competitive hegemony. In competitive hegemonies regimes are able to dominate elections by large vote margins, but with comparatively much low…
The Politics of Uncertainty
From Single-Party to Electoral Authoritarian Regimes
How Autocrats Compete
Most autocrats now hold unfair elections, yet how they compete in them and manipulate them differs greatly. How Autocrats Compete advances a theory that explains variation in electoral authoritarian competition. Using case studies of Tanzania, Cameroon, and Kenya, along with broader comparisons from Africa, it finds that the kind of relationships autocrats foster with supporters and external actors matters greatly during elections. When autocrats…
Electoral authoritarianism and weak states in Africa
State capacity is arguably an essential factor that stabilizes electoral authoritarian rule. Yet, in the context of sub-Saharan Africa many measures of state capacity are generally weak. What therefore explains the persistence of electoral authoritarianism in Africa? This study provides a comparison of Tanzania and Cameroon to highlight two divergent reactions to the problem of power consolidation in Africa. In Cameroon, a centralized presidency …
Presidential power and democratization by elections in Africa
Do elections in and of themselves provide mechanisms for democratization? The “democratization by elections” thesis has been challenged, yet scholars still differ over its substantive effect. Some of the disagreement is over the specific outcome of interest, with proponents advocating for a narrower definition of “democratization”. Others want to know more about the factors that condition how elections impact on democracy. This article addresses …
Elite interviews in the developing world
Recently researchers have built on field experiences from novel and challenging settings to develop new insights into elite interviewing strategies, and specifically the question of access. One such context that has been underexplored is the weaker institutional environment found in much of the developing world. Many of the common suggestions regarding access emphasize an elite's relative insularity and unwillingness to participate in research du…
Rebuilding, rebranding, and competitive landscapes
This study reevaluates debates over what has allowed authoritarian successor parties (ASPs) to overcome the baggage associated with their past and remain competitive after the Third Wave. Current scholarship points to variation in several factors – the degree to which ASPs can rebuild support using resources from the authoritarian past, the ability of ASPs to rebrand themselves, and the extent to which the new competitive landscape provides elect…
The legislature as political control
A growing literature has begun to more closely examine African legislatures. However, most of this research has been attentive to emerging democratic settings, and particularly the experiences of a select number of English-speaking countries. By contrast, Cameroon is a Francophone majority country that reintroduced multiparty politics in the early 1990s but continues to exhibit significant authoritarian tendencies. This article provides a longitu…
Pathways to Power in Authoritarian Regimes
Legislatures are key institutions that stabilize authoritarian rule. However, less is said about the individuals who populate these institutions or the pathways that take them to power. This is an oversight, since how autocrats recruit reflects upon their institutional capacities and adaptation to changing circumstances. Specifically, recruitment is challenging when regimes lack robust ruling parties to cultivate partisan loyalists and during per…
Democratic contestation, organised labour, and pension reform in Ghana and Malawi
What explains variation in African states' commitment to pensions? This article argues that differences in the structure of contestation and legacies of state‐labour relations matter. When competition is confined to fewer and more stable parties, social welfare appeals gain currency to mobilise swing voters and makes it more likely that pensions will become a subject of political competition. However, legacies of labour accommodation can strength…
Autocratic Legalism, Partisanship, and Popular Legitimation in Authoritarian Cameroon
Authoritarian regimes regularly turn to the law to justify repression. This article examines whether invoking legal institutions has a persuasive effect on public perceptions of repression, and whether that effect is shaped by partisanship. The article uses the case of Cameroon’s Special Criminal Tribunal, created in 2011 to prosecute high-profile corruption cases. A survey experiment was designed that describes the arrest and trial of a suspecte…
Unpacking candidate selection in authoritarian regimes
Why do autocratic ruling parties adopt certain candidate selection processes, and what effects do they have on political outcomes? This article argues that many contemporary autocracies democratize candidate selection to address the demands of multiparty elections, but that this creates unforeseen hazards. Autocrats centralize candidate selection to reassert control over the composition of legislatures, but not necessarily to recruit more effecti…
The Geography of Constituency Service in an Autocracy
Political science (13 works) · Democracy (12 works) · Law (12 works) · Political economy (12 works) · Politics (12 works) · Authoritarianism (11 works) · Law (11 works) · Sociology (10 works) · Political Conflict and Governance (9 works) · International Development and Aid (8 works)