The Authoritarian Leadership Project

The Authoritarian Leadership Project (ALP) examines how authoritarian leaders and their legacies shape the trajectories of democracy worldwide. While existing research has clarified institutional drivers of democratic erosion, less is known about the leaders themselves—their political pasts, gendered experiences, and familial ties. The ALP addresses this gap by developing original datasets covering de facto political leaders since 1945, with particular attention to leaders presiding over democratic backsliding, women executives, former dictators returning to office, and relatives of past autocrats. Using a mixed-methods design that combines large-N statistical analysis, qualitative case studies, and typological theory-building, the project seeks to identify how the backgrounds and experiences of leaders affect democratic erosion and resilience. In doing so, the ALP contributes new empirical evidence and conceptual tools for understanding how individual leaders—alongside institutions—affect the prospects for democracy in the contemporary world.