The Political Economy of Autocratic Constitutions

The articles examines why autocrats adopt constitutions. The authors argues that the fundamental reason is that constitutions can help dictators consolidate power, increase investment, and boost economic development—all while generating a steady flow of rents for themselves and their cronies without empowering challengers so as to undermine their authority. The authors argue further that although constitutions are just one of several tools—tools include repression, cooptation, and clientelistic networks—that a dictator may use to consolidate his grip on power, they can be very effective when employed.