The managed nature of the Russian election process has brought into sharp relief a set of countries that are sidestepping a rotation of power and whose systems are not open to the rise and fall of competing political parties and groupings. The leader for life governance model is apparent in a regionally diverse and strategically important set of states, where power is retained indefinitely by an individual or through the managed transfer of power within families or to close associates. Other countries from the Countries at the Crossroads set that fall into this “leader for life” category include Angola, Azerbaijan, Egypt, Iran, Libya, Kazakhstan, Yemen, and Zimbabwe. View the linked Crossroads reports for detailed explanations of the problems wrought by the lack of rotation of power in each country. Looking at set of Crossroads country data from 2007, the correlation between low scores in certain categories and lack of rotation of power is evident.
Among the other large public policy challenges seen above, the sting for ordinary citizens in these settings is felt from the enormous corruption that flourishes in such unaccountable and non-transparent systems. A table showing a number of states that fit the leader for life mold – alongside performance on Transparency International’s 2007 Corruption Perception Index – helps to tell the story. All the states in the table are in the bottom quartile of the survey, with failed states such as Somalia, Haiti, and Afghanistan, and one party or military dictatorships such as Laos, Vietnam, and Myanmar.
See also this commentary on the subject by Freedom House Director of Studies Christopher Walker.
