The renewed prominence of strong leaders has revived classic debates on personalist rule, yet much remains unclear about how personalization unfolds beyond conventional regime boundaries. This introduction of the Special Issue argues that the key phenomenon is not only the presence of “personalist” autocracies, but the broader, incremental concentration of political authority in individual executives across regime types. Using cross-national patterns in personalist rule and executive constraints as a point of departure, it shows why static regime labels obscure important transformations in how power is exercized and contested. The Special Issue advances three claims: (1) personalization should be analyzed as a dynamic process distinct from, and not necessarily leading to, the end-state of personalist rule; (2) it proceeds through distinct mechanisms that erode institutional checks and balances and collective decision-making; and (3) its consequences are central to understanding not only the processes and outcomes of regime trajectories, but also for policymaking and political accountability. This introduction situates the Special Issue in existing debates, summarizes its core contributions, and sets out an agenda for future research on the personalization of political power.
Evidence shows a growing trend of chief executives personalising power in autocracies and democracies. Yet, scholarly focus remains siloed according to regime type. This Working Paper presents an overarching framework on the “Personalisation of Executive Power,” identifying the involved mechanisms.
The COVID-19 pandemic is revealing its severe implications not just for health systems worldwide. One striking political consequence has been renewed power concentration in the executive. There are signs of a global increase in this executive personalisation having occurred over the last 12 months.
How has COVID-19 affected the personalization of executive power in South Korea? To answer this question, we draw on the conceptual framework of personalization outlined in the literature concerning democracies and autocracies.
How do chief executives personalize power? In this paper we conceptualize the personalization of executive power based on observable processes initiated by the chief executive looking at personnel management, institutional engineering, and coercion.
This dashboard examines how the COVID-19 pandemic influenced executive personalization in 32 countries. Each bubble represents a country and its number of personalization events. Select one or two, then use the buttons to explore the events and their underlying mechanisms.
Evidence shows a growing trend of chief executives personalising power in autocracies and democracies. Yet, scholarly focus remains siloed according to regime type. This Working Paper presents an overarching framework on the “Personalisation of Executive Power,” identifying the involved mechanisms.
The COVID-19 pandemic is revealing its severe implications not just for health systems worldwide. One striking political consequence has been renewed power concentration in the executive. There are signs of a global increase in this executive personalisation having occurred over the last 12 months.
How has COVID-19 affected the personalization of executive power in South Korea? To answer this question, we draw on the conceptual framework of personalization outlined in the literature concerning democracies and autocracies.
How do chief executives personalize power? In this paper we conceptualize the personalization of executive power based on observable processes initiated by the chief executive looking at personnel management, institutional engineering, and coercion.
This dashboard examines how the COVID-19 pandemic influenced executive personalization in 32 countries. Each bubble represents a country and its number of personalization events. Select one or two, then use the buttons to explore the events and their underlying mechanisms.
Evidence shows a growing trend of chief executives personalising power in autocracies and democracies. Yet, scholarly focus remains siloed according to regime type. This Working Paper presents an overarching framework on the “Personalisation of Executive Power,” identifying the involved mechanisms.
The COVID-19 pandemic is revealing its severe implications not just for health systems worldwide. One striking political consequence has been renewed power concentration in the executive. There are signs of a global increase in this executive personalisation having occurred over the last 12 months.
How has COVID-19 affected the personalization of executive power in South Korea? To answer this question, we draw on the conceptual framework of personalization outlined in the literature concerning democracies and autocracies.
