Making a Career in Dictatorship: The Secret Logic Behind Repression and Coups

Who loyally carries out the most brutal violence for a dictator? And who overthrows the very leader they swore to protect? Like no other work before it, Making a Career in Dictatorship dives deep into the authoritarian security apparatus to identify which officers participate in repression or coups--and above all, why.

The book's compelling theory uncovers career pressure as the secret driver behind the two most notorious phenomena of authoritarian power politics. Officers disadvantaged in their professional advancement either try to demonstrate their loyalty to the current regime by participating in repression, or to commend themselves to a successor regime by participating in a coup.

The book offers a wealth of unprecedented evidence in support of its unified theory. Based on unique career data on thousands of Argentine army officers, in-depth case studies on Hitler's Germany, Stalin's Soviet Union, and Jawara's Gambia, and a global analysis of authoritarian regimes since 1945, a striking pattern emerges: career pressure fuels extreme behavior. By revealing for the first time the organizational structure, promotion systems, and career paths within the authoritarian security apparatus, the book shows how seemingly banal career concerns shape the bottom-up dynamics of regime survival and collapse. In times of rising authoritarianism, this book offers key insights into how states and societies fall victim to illiberal leaders and their willing enforcers.

Author: Christian Gläßel,Adam Scharpf
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 02/13/2026
Pages: 256
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.80lbs
Size: 9.25h x 6.13w x 0.54d
ISBN: 9780197831199

About the Author
Christian Gläßel is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Hertie School's Centre for International Security in Berlin and principal investigator of the project "The Anatomy of the Authoritarian Security Apparatus," funded by the German Research Foundation. His research examines how authoritarian regimes work and why they fail, with a focus on political violence, propaganda, and conspiracies.

Adam Scharpf is an Associate Professor at the Department of Political Science at the University of Copenhagen. His research explores how political regimes--particularly autocracies and dictatorships--produce loyalty and allegiance, both at the national and international levels.