In politics, a strongman is a type of authoritarian political leader—civilian or military—who exerts control through military enforcement and has or claimed to have strong popular support. Strongmen typically claim to have widespread popular support, portray themselves as the only one capable of solving the country's problems, and espouse a disdain for liberalism and democracy.

Functions

A strongman can be either a civilian or a military leader and can exist in both democracies and autocracies.^[2] Military dictatorships ruled by military strongmen differ from military juntas as the strongman rules alone and does not have to negotiate with other military officers to rule.^[3]

Political scientists Brian Lai and Dan Slater identified strongmen as ruling in an autocratic which exercises power through the military; typically, strongmen do not share power collectively and do not rely on a political party to exert power.^[4] Strongmen are more likely to initiate international conflicts than democracies, military juntas, and partisan dictatorships.^[5][6] Additionally, political scientists Barbara Geddes, Erica Frantz, and Joseph G. Wright argue that dictatorships led by strongmen are more likely to "commit human rights abuses" and "become embroiled in civil wars" then other dictatorships. They also stated that strongmen are more likely to be overthrown by an insurgency, revolution, or foreign invasion than civilian dictators and military juntas.^[7]

Regimes led by strongmen are less likely to transition to democracy than military juntas as the strongman is more likely to fear imprisonment or death as a consequence for their actions once out of office more than a collective of military officers likely would.^[8][9] Some scholars described the "strongman's dilemma" as the process of establishing a successor once out of office without creating a political rival.^[8] Strongmen typically appoint family members to important government positions,^[2] but appointing family members as a successor is also a way to ensure themselves that they would not be imprisoned upon leaving office. Meanwhile, some strongmen attempt to remain in power indefinitely but face the risk of being removed once their health diminishes and rivals seek an opportunity to seize power.^[8] Even when overthrown, regimes previously led by strongmen are likely to be continued by another strongman.^[9]

Strongmen can assume political office either via democratic institutions or through a forceful seizure of power, such as a coup d'état or a revolution.^[10][11] In situations where a new government is formed democratically, strongmen typically erode a country's democratic institutions to consolidate power through democratic backsliding.^[8] In situations where a new government is formed by force, strongmen typically manifest gradually rather than immediately upon assuming power, especially following military coups.^[10]

Politics

Strongmen are typically nationalist leaders;^[12] they portray themselves as having strong popular support and claim to represent the people "against the elites".^[13] Strongmen also build a cult of personality around themselves^[14] and espouse a disdain for liberalism and democracy.^[15] Strongmen push a narrative that they alone have the capability to solve their respective country's problems and wish to be admired "not just for their strength but also for their morality and their intellect".^[14] Although almost all strongmen express their distrust or distain for democracy, many continue to portray themselves as being democratic.^[16]

Strongmen generally express contempt for the rule of law,^[12] however, they also utilize the law as a weapon against their political opponents, such as launching investigations into alleged crimes or outright imprisoning their opponents. To exert this authority, strongmen appoint loyalists to the country's judiciary and purge those who the strongman sees as disloyal or as a threat.^[17] Strongmen frequently criticize journalists and the press; they dismiss negative press and information contrary to their rule as "fake news" and label those who report said information as the "enemy of the people"^[18] and even counter such information through manipulation or with their own reporting.^[16] Strongmen utilize social media to reach out to their supporters.^[19]

History

Historically, authoritarian leaders, commonly referred to as dictators, exerted political control through mass murder, holding sham elections, and holding total control of the press. Such leaders included Joseph Stalin, Idi Amin, and Augusto Pinochet. Additionally, several modern rulers such as Kim Jong Un and Bashar al-Assad continue to exert their power in a similar manner. Such trends of total control and repression have shifted since the end of the 20th century.^[16]

Vladimir Putin is commonly cited as one of the first cases of a modern political strongman,^[16] with British journalist Gideon Rachman describing Putin as "the archetype and the model for the current generation of strongman leaders" in his 2022 book The Age of the Strongman.^[1] Rachman outlined that Putin began his presidency by portraying himself as respective of Russia's democratic institutions but slowly consolidated his power over the course of the 2000s and 2010s.^[20] Other post-Soviet leaders have also been described as strongmen, such as Ilham Aliyev,^[21] Alexander Lukashenko,^[22] and Nursultan Nazarbayev.^[8]

Similar to Putin, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan began his rule of Turkey as a liberal reformer, but gradually consolidated his power throuhgout his premiership and later his presidency.^[23] In Latin America, state leaders such as Nayib Bukele,^[24] Hugo Chávez,^[8] Andrés Manuel López Obrador,^[25] and Manuel Noriega have been described as strongmen.^[4]