David Szakonyi's guest appearances

David Szakonyi

CREECA Lecture Series Podcast

Conversation Six

Annie Duke

Michael Mauboussin

Robert Lee

Michael Mann

James Joyce

Jude Blanchette

Julian Gewirtz

Carl Minzner

Scott Kennedy

Susan Thornton

Emma Ashford

Jonathan Ward

Paul Triolo

Graham Allison

Mary Gallagher

OwlTail

Casey Michel

Casey Michel and David Szakonyi on how America's cultural institutions are being fueled and funded by post Soviet corruption.

Casey Michel and David Szakonyi

Does electoral fraud stabilize authoritarian rule or undermine it? The answer to this question rests, in part, on how voters evaluate regime candidates who engage in fraud. Using a survey experiment carried out after the 2016 State Duma elections, we find that voters withdraw their support from United Russia candidates who are reputed to have used electoral fraud. This effect is especially large among strong supporters of the regime. Core regime supporters are more likely to have ex ante beliefs that elections are free and fair. Providing them information about fraud significantly reduces their propensity to support the ruling party. These findings illustrate that fraud is costly for autocrats not just because it may ignite protest—as several scholars have argued—but also because it can undermine the regime’s core base of electoral support. Because many of its strongest supporters expect elections to be free and fair, the regime has strong incentives to conceal or otherwise limit its use of electoral fraud.

Electoral Manipulation and Regime Support: Survey Evidence from Russia - David Szakonyi (2.14.19)