Executive Aggrandizement: Understanding the Silent Erosion of Democratic Constraints
Regulation and Governance, 2026 (SSCI, Scopus)
- Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
- Basım Tarihi: 2026
- Doi Numarası: 10.1111/rego.70212
- Dergi Adı: Regulation and Governance
- Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Scopus, EconLit, HeinOnline-Law Journal Library, Political Science Complete, Political Science Abstract (IPSA), Business Source Ultimate (EBSCO), Law Journal Library (HeinOnline)
- Anahtar Kelimeler: democratic backsliding, executive aggrandizement, fixed effects, liberal democracy, measurement, V-Dem
- TED Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet
Özet
Studies of executive aggrandizement face a double measurement problem. Measures of aggrandizement may include institutions that constitute liberal democracy, while broad composites may treat substantively different executive practices as interchangeable. This article develops a measurement-oriented classification that reduces direct overlap with the V-Dem Liberal Democracy Index and compares distinct practices under common analytical rules. Using V-Dem v15 data and a common sample of 17,404 country-years across 179 countries from 1901 to 2024, country- and year-fixed-effects models estimate conditional within-country associations for five lagged practices. Patronal-distributive allocation, judicial purges, and personalist/mobilizational legitimation are negatively associated with liberal democracy. Executive corruption is consistently imprecise, whereas politicized administrative appointments are negative only in some specifications. Item-level, restricted-period, timing, and first-difference analyses document practice heterogeneity but also show exceptional persistence; negative future-lead estimates prevent a causal or sequential reading. The primary contribution is a bounded measurement and modeling strategy that preserves comparability while reducing, rather than claiming to eliminate, outcome overlap. Its linked theoretical contribution is a practice-family account of executive aggrandizement: politically coordinated practices may coexist and remain interdependent without becoming interchangeable indicators or stages in a common causal sequence.