Erica Frantz is an Associate Professor in Political Science at Michigan State University (MSU) and a Research Fellow at the Charles F. Kettering Foundation. Her most recent book (coauthored with Andrea Kendall-Taylor and Joseph Wright) is The Origins of Elected Strongmen: How Personalist Parties Destroy Democracy from Within. The Democracy Paradox is made in partnership... Continue Reading →
Personalist Strongmen: Challenges and Trends
By Erica Frantz and Andrea Kendall-Taylor A Bad Year for Strongmen Looking back, 2022 was a bad year for strongmen. Take Russia, where Vladimir Putin’s poor judgement led to a war that has not only devasted Ukraine, but left Russia seriously weakened and Putin’s own hold on power more tenuous. In China, as well, widespread... Continue Reading →
