For things to remain the same, how many things have to change? Elite continuity and change after leadership changes
Articolo
Data di Pubblicazione:
2023
Citazione:
For things to remain the same, how many things have to change? Elite continuity and change after leadership changes / T. Corda. - In: DEMOCRATIZATION. - ISSN 1351-0347. - (2023), pp. 1-20. [Epub ahead of print] [10.1080/13510347.2023.2189699]
Abstract:
After leadership changes, how do new leaders recast the composition of their
surrounding elites to ensure support and secure their tenure? Using original data
on African cabinets, this article contributes to the debate on leaders’ survival with
new theoretical inputs and empirical evidence about senior level changes new
leaders introduce after assuming office to ensure a longer and more stable tenure.
The article concentrates primarily on leaders emerged from an under-theorized and
yet frequent type of leadership change, which is neither violent nor electoral, such
as after a predecessor’s resignation. Because these leaders lack the authority
generally granted, albeit through different means, by electoral and violent
takeovers, the article builds on regime cycle frameworks to develop a sequential
interpretation of elite management for such hybrid types which is distinct from
both violence-born and electoral regimes. The comparative analysis of two recent
such cases in Ethiopia and Zimbabwe empirically illustrates how the timing and
sequencing of post-change elite management eventually affect leadership stability
over time. These findings ultimately reinforce the view that the survival debate
needs to dilute its focus on leaders as the organizing principles of regimes, and
instead concentrate on wider senior elite coalitions.
Tipologia IRIS:
01 - Articolo su periodico
Keywords:
Africa; cabinets; elites; leadership change; reshuffles
Elenco autori:
T. Corda
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