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Terrorizing Freedom: When Governments Use Repression to Manipulate Elections

Most governments in the world now hold elections, yet many incumbent leaders use elections for non-democratic purposes, such as increasing their hold on power instead of allowing genuine political competition and change. This article evaluates the conditions under which governments are likely to use state-sponsored political repression as an electoral tactic. We argue that governments are most likely to increase repression during (and immediately surrounding) elections when they perceive that political opposition threatens their hold on power and the abuse will lead to few negative consequences. We test our argument with cross national evidence on elections and repression from 1981 to 2006.