How a Dictator Became Vulnerable
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6287416 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Lucan A Way (0000-0001-9702-9034, University of Toronto, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2020 |
| Volume | 31 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 17-27 |
| Publication date | 2020-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of democracy (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1045-5736 • E-ISSN: 1086-3214 |
| Publisher | Project MUSE (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1353/jod.2020.0052 |
| OpenAlex | W3089121238 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 6 |
| References cited | 2 |
In August 2020, Belarus-a country known for its persistent autocracy and popular quiescence-exploded in mass prodemocracy protests.Following a fraudulent presidential election on August 9, hundreds of thousands took to the streets.The demonstrations posed an unprecedented threat to Alyaksandr Lukashenka, who has ruled Belarus for more than a quarter-century.At the same time, protest leaders have explicitly distinguished their new movement from the "color revolutions" that have taken place in other postcommunist countries.Rather than calling for major changes in geopolitical orientation, as in Ukraine's 2013-14 EuroMaidan, they have focused their demands on free and democratic elections together with a return to the constitutional status quo that existed before Lukashenka.While seeking to overturn a personalist dictatorship, opposition leaders have sought to portray themselves as essentially antirevolutionary.This democratic uprising was the product of both growing popular discontent and Lukashenka's own miscalculations.Lukashenka himself came out of nowhere to win the 1994 presidential election thanks in part to the fact that he was underestimated by the establishment as a country bumpkin.In 2020, he in turn gave a critical opening to his main challenger, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, because he did not take women seriously.Indeed, the first serious challenge to Lukashenka's rule in two decades was directly enabled by misogyny.The emergence of a powerful prodemocratic movement came as a shock.Belarus, which became independent in 1991, has long been considered a pro-Soviet bastion.Its neighbors on three sides are countries-Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and Ukraine-that hosted powerful anticommunist movements when the Soviet bloc began crumbling in the
Development economics · Dictator · Economics · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Historical and Contemporary Political Dynamics · Law · Psychology
| Unique citing works | 6 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1.2 |
| Citation span | 2021 - 2026 (6) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 6 |