Dissertation

My doctoral dissertation examines whether or not authoritarian regimes are following the rules outlined in their constitution. Specifically, I examine what I call the functional effectiveness of these constitutions—that is how closely these regimes follow the rules laid out in their constitution. I theorize that most authoritarian regimes are following their constitutions, but differences will occur with respect to the type of authoritarian regime the constitution is operating within. To test my theory, I conduct in-depth case studies and create a dataset that will measure whether the constitution is being followed within each respective country from 1990 to 2010. This dataset includes indexes measuring the functional effectiveness of executive authority, executive tenure, legislative authority, legislative autonomy, and legislative tenure. These measurements cover twenty-five countries across the world in multiple regions including Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and others.