Faculty Fellow Karrie Koesel (political science) co-authored an article titled: "In South Carolina, Democrats Debated When a Dictator is Really a Dictator. So What’s the Answer?" for the Washington Post's Monkey Cage. In it, she described how the term dictatorship came up multiple in Tuesday’s Democratic presidential debate in South Carolina. Some of the candidates disagreed on how they defined a dictator. She emphasizes on how crucial it is for policymakers to understand the differences in how authoritarian governments rule — and how and to what extent they are domestically beholden even if not subject to free and fair elections.