The Predicament of Europe’s ‘Last Dictator’

Bibliographic Data

ID13010441
AuthorsYuliya Brel-Fournier (0000-0002-1078-4940, University of Delaware, corresponding author), Minion K C Morrison (University of Delaware)
Year2021
Volume24
Issue3
Pages169-192
Publication date2021-05-30
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueInternational Area Studies Review (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2049-1123 • E-ISSN: 2233-8659
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/22338659211018326
OpenAlexW3171631778
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited13

Belarusian citizens elected their first president in 1994. More than 20 years later, in October 2015, the same person triumphantly won the fifth consecutive presidential election. In August 2020, President Lukashenko’s attempt to get re-elected for the sixth time ended in months’ long mass protests against the electoral fraud, unspeakable violence used by the riot police against peaceful protesters and the deepest political crisis in the modern history of Belarus. This article analyzes how and why the first democratically elected Belarusian president attained this long-serving status. It suggests that his political longevity was conditioned by a specific social contract with the society that was sustained for many years. In light of the recent events, it is obvious that the contract is breached with the regime no longer living up to the bargain with the Belarusian people. As a result, the citizens seem unwilling to maintain their obligation for loyalty. We analyze the escalating daily price for maintaining the status quo and conclude considering the possible implications of this broken pact for the future of Belarus

Dictator · Loyalty · Obligation · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Presidency · Presidential election · Sociology · Status quo · Eastern European Communism and Reforms · European Politics and Security · Law · Russia and Soviet political economy

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