民主化は冷戦終結後に広がりを見せたものの、今日の国際情勢に目をやったとき、最も注目に値し、最も懸念される展開となっているのが権威主義の隆盛です。現在世界の人口の約40％が何らかの権威主義の下で生活し、世界の約3分の1の国々が権威主義政権に統治されています。グローバル化が進む今日、世界の権威主義体制との関わりを完全に断つことはできません。もっといえば、ポピュリズムが注目を集める中、国内の権威主義化にさえ注意を払わねばならない状況になっています。
本書は権威主義の高まり、その成り立ちと特徴について説明し、明瞭で簡潔な概説を提供します。権威主義者自身が、権力を得るためにとる手法、生き残るための戦略、どのように失脚していくかについても分析しています。権威主義体制の政治の仕組みを理解し、権威主義体制とはどのように生み出されるものなのか、そして崩壊の引き金となる要因について認識を持つことは、自身の身を守るためにも重要なことです。本書はそうした理解を私たち一人ひとりが深めていくための道筋を提示してくれます。
   

• Argues that authoritarian regimes have evolved considerably in the past few decades
• Sheds light on big questions about authoritarianism: such as who the key actors are in dictatorships, what types of strategies they use to maintain control, and why some seem to rule forever, while others are easily overthrown
• Synthesizes key studies in the literature and summarizing their major points in an easy to interpret fashion

　　
Despite the spread of democratization following the Cold War's end, all signs indicate that we are currently seeing a resurgence of authoritarianism. Around forty percent of the world's people live under some form of authoritarian rule, and authoritarian regimes govern about a third of the world's countries. In Authoritarianism: What Everyone Needs to KnowRG, Erica Frantz guides us through today's authoritarian wave, explaining how it came to be and what its features are. She also looks at authoritarians themselves, focusing in particular on the techniques they use to take power, the strategies they use to survive, and how they fall. As she demonstrates, understanding how politics works in authoritarian regimes and recognizing the factors that either give rise to them or trigger their downfall, remains as important as ever. This book paves the ways for such an understanding. Authoritarianism is a clear and concise overview that provides readers with a context for making sense of one of the most important-and most worrying-developments in contemporary world politics.