This article explores how citizens in authoritarian states evaluate their leaders. The authors analyze Gallup World Poll data spanning 140 countries between 2006 and 2016, revealing regime-specific drivers of political approval. 👑 In brutal dictatorships, repression may cause preference falsification, but in milder informational autocracies, greater repression actually predicts lower leader ratings. 💰 Citizens' perceptions of economic performance align with objective indicators across both regimes, though not perfectly accurate. 🛡️ Public safety concerns also boost approval under authoritarian rule. 📚 The study finds that media censorship boosts leader ratings significantly only in autocracies—and only when citizens don't recognize it. ⚖️ In informational autocracies where elections occur, leadership changes drive rating surges—but reelected leaders see limited approval gains compared to democratic counterparts.
