This title offers a comprehensive assessment of the nature of authoritarian regimes, their changing character, and the main theoretical explanations of their incidence, character and performance. It is a fully revised 2nd edition of the leading text on the subject. It increases interest and student numbers given problems of democratization and 'democracy promotion'.Despite talk of the 'triumph of democracy', much of the world is still ruled by political or military dictatorships. Paul Brooker provides a comprehensive assessment of the nature of authoritarian regimes, their changing character in the 21st Century world and the main theoretical explanations of their incidence, character and performance.