The Destiny of Dictators after Power. Who Should Be Punished and How?

In: Revista de estudios políticos, Heft 140, S. 105-133

Abstract

This article analyses from a comparative point of view the fate of dictators once they have lost or given power up, in other words, it seeks to explain under what conditions it is possible to punish outgoing rulers & under which ones dictators can exile or remain unpunished in their countries. To do so, we depart from a simple game-theoretic model through which we stress that there are two main factors that explain rulers' fate: The relative strength of the opposition & the international context. New data for the period 1945-2000 on dictators' mode of exiting power & post-power fate have allowed us to put our hypotheses under empirical scrutiny. Tables, Figures, References. Adapted from the source document.