Edward Goldring, "Purges: How Dictators Fight to Survive" (Cornell UP, 2026)
About this episode
Dr. Edward Goldring discusses his book on the tactics dictators use to maintain power through purges.
Purges: How Dictators Fight to Survive (Cornell University Press, 2026) by Dr. Edward Goldring delves into one of the key tactics that autocrats deploy to maintain power: the removal of individuals from within the regime. From Kim Jong Un's execution of his uncle to Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's removal of over a hundred Turkish generals, purges bear significant consequences for the survival and endurance of autocrats. Yet much remains unknown about why dictators use purges and whether they achieve their intended effects. Drawing on an original global dataset on civilian and military elite purges in dictatorships in addition to case studies spanning North and South Korea as well as Turkey, Dr. Goldring examines the logic behind purges and their consequences. He shows that dictators purge to consolidate power, punish disloyalty, and scapegoat elites to alleviate popular threats. But even as purges help dictators consolidate power early in their tenure, purges actually weaken their position when they have been in power for a long time, prompting pushback. In the face of an increasing global shift toward authoritarian norms, Purges offers critical insight into how autocrats maintain—and…
People in this episode
Host: Miranda Melcher
Guest: Edward Goldring
Topics covered
- dictatorship
- purges
- political power
- autocracy
- elite removal
- case studies
Keywords
- purges
- dictators
- power consolidation
- political survival
- autocrats
- case studies
- elite purges
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Cornell University Press
Places: North Korea, South Korea, Turkey
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