Use of coercive practices to maintain power in authoritarian political regimes

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to form a generalized analytical framework for the study of power practices in authoritarian political regimes with a focus on their institutional, behavioral, and information and technological dimensions; to explain the mechanisms of reproducing regime stability through coercion, surveillance, and control of the information space; to outline the institutional, social, information, and cultural consequences of the use of coercion and to identify priority areas for further research and policies to limit authoritarian tendencies. Methods. Comparative political analysis was used to compare types of political regimes and coercive practices, elements of institutional analysis to interpret the role of power institutions in maintaining the vertical of power, behavioral modeling to interpret citizens' reactions to signals of repressive policies, the approach of political communication and digital policy to operationalize information and technological control, conceptual mapping of the conceptual apparatus with further systematization of the consequences in the context of institutional, social, information, and cultural spheres. Results. The definition of «forceful practices» is clarified as a system of tools that combine physical coercion, administrative sanctions, digital surveillance, and cognitive-communicative management techniques, aimed at preserving power and preventing political mobilization by the opposition. The consequences of the use of coercion are systematized, including institutional (erosion of the rule of law, instrumentalization of the judiciary, fusion of political and forceful power), social (apathy of the population, distrust of citizens in state institutions, reduction of their political participation), informational (censorship, disinformation, monopolization of framing), cultural (normalization of obedience, displacement of democratic values ​​of participation and responsibility). Conclusions. An analytical framework is proposed that integrates institutional, behavioral, and information and technological approaches, forming a holistic, multidimensional understanding of the role of forceful practices in the structure and dynamics of authoritarian power. It is noted that a systematic understanding of force practices as a component of political power lays the foundation for effective strategies to strengthen democracy and prevent the authoritarian degradation of state systems.