The Weakness of Authoritarian Regimes: Rwanda as a Difficult But Convincing Case

Abstract The lack of academic attention to the functioning of authoritarian regimes has allowed an erroneous impression that dictatorships are inherently strong and stable. Marie-Eve Desrosiers uses the difficult case of Rwanda, whose 1994 genocide against the Tutsi has widely been seen as a sign of state strength, to demonstrate the fragility of authoritarian rule. Looking at the First and Second Republics, which governed Rwanda from 1962 until 1994, Desrosiers explores both the vulnerability of the regimes and how they adjusted over time in attempts to strengthen control. Desrosiers argues for greater awareness of shifting strategies and changes in governance across time, what she calls “authoritarian trajectories,” to better understand how authoritarian regimes actually work and how the public responds to them. Although not focused on the 1994 genocide, Desrosiers' analysis helps explain why genocide emerged as a strategy to shore up Rwanda's failing regime.