Framing authoritarian legitimacy: elite cohesion in the aftermath of popular rebellion

ABSTRACT

Protest activity presents a significant threat to state legitimacy in nondemocratic settings. Although authoritarian regimes rely heavily on coercion, state officials must also justify their authority to both the public and other elites. Previous work has shown how elites vilify challengers to legitimize repression, but scholars have yet to examine how state officials engage in meaning work to prevent elite divisions from forming in light of popular challenges to regime legitimacy. In this study, we examine elite framing processes in a case of popular resistance to a 1953 currency reform in Communist Czechoslovakia. Using archival material, we trace the inter- and intra-organizational processes through which officials construct legitimacy claims by explaining and adjudicating blame for the popular rebellion. Results indicate that authoritarian rulers relied on a variety of discursive mechanisms to generate consensus among subordinate elites and protect regime legitimacy. We conclude by discussing implications for research on authoritarianism and social movements.

KEYWORDS:

• Legitimacy
• framing
• elite cohesion
• social movements
• authoritarianism

Acknowledgement

We thank Lenka Humeníková Shriver, Luboš Namyslo and Richard Smola for their invaluable assistance with this research project, as well as two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments on this manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. High-profile prosecutions, most notably that of former KSČ general secretary Rudolf Slánský and thirteen other prominent officials in 1952, arguably indicate a significant degree of elite disunity (see McDermott, 2008). However, rulers’ concern – at times paranoia – about anti-state conspiracies and party infiltration should not be confused for actual organized challenges. The level of elite unity displayed during these early years of communist rule can be contrasted with the formation and ascendance of an elite reformist faction leading up to the Prague Spring, the brief period of political liberalization in 1968.

2. Some documents, such as meeting minutes, contain multiple speakers. The author of these documents was coded based on the organizing entity and does not differentiate between individual speakers. Despite this limitation, the majority of documents have a single author (96%) and excluding the multi-authored documents did not substantially change results (analysis not shown).

3. Archiv města Plzeň, Group MVKSČ, Box 189, 28 June 1953. File: Meeting Minutes of the MVKSČ.

4. Archiv města Plzeň, Group Bureau MVKSČ, Box 14. 27 June 1953. File: Meeting Minutes of the MVKSČ.

5. Arhiv Škoda Plzeň. Group ZVIL, Závody VI Lenina. 10 June 1953. File: 1455, PV 45, ROH to State Prosecutor’s Office in Plzěn.

6. Státní oblastní archiv v Plzeň, Blovice. Group IT 148/153. 13 July 1953. File: Criminal Prosecution of Participants in Protest, Group 13.

7. Archiv města Plzeň, Group MVKSČ, Box 189, 28 June 1953. File: Meeting Minutes of the MVKSČ.

8. Národní Archiv. Group KSČ Central Committee, Prague Sessions 1945–1990, Volume 20, Inventory Number 33/1–4. File: Currency Reform of 1953 and Responses in Plzeň.

9. Archiv města Plzěn, Group MVKSČ, Box 189. 3 June 1953. File: Meeting Minutes of the MVKSČ.

10. Ibid.

11. Archiv města Plzeň, Group MVKSČ, Box 189. 28 June 1953. File: Meeting Minutes of the MVKSČ.

12. Archiv města Plzeň, Group MVKSČ, Box 189. 3 June 1953. File: Meeting Minutes of the MVKSČ.

13. Archiv města Plzeň, Group MVKSČ, Box 451. 3 June 1953. File: Meeting Minutes of the MVKSČ.

14. Archiv města Plzeň, Group MVKSČ, Box 189. 3 June 1953. File: Meeting Minutes of the MVKSČ.

15. Factory and judicial officials were largely absent from debates surrounding blame and criticism, and were therefore excluded from the models.

16. Archiv města Plzeň, Group MVKSČ, Box 14. 9 September 1953. File: Meeting Minutes of the MVKSČ.

17. Archiv města Plzeň, Group MVKSČ, Box 189, 28 June 1953. File: Meeting Minutes of the MVKSČ.

18. Ibid.

19. Národní Archiv. Group KSČ Celostátní porady, 1945–1990, Prague (formerly Group 018), Volume 15, Inventory Number 11011.6.1953 Zápis. File: Currency Reform of 1953 and Responses in Plzeň.

20. Archiv města Plzeň, Group MVKSČ, Box 450. 4 July 1953. File: Resolution of the Government of Czechoslovakia and the Central Committee of the KSČ regarding the Currency Reform of 1953.

Additional information

Funding

National Science Foundation, Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences, Division of Social and Economic Sciences, 1411825.

Notes on contributors

Laura A. Bray

Laura A. Bray is a PhD candidate in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at North Carolina State University. She studies environmental sociology and social movements, with current projects focused on state repression of dissent and mobilization in high-risk settings. Her dissertation examines the formation of water inequality in the southwestern US.

Thomas E. Shriver

Thomas E. Shriver is Professor of Sociology at North Carolina State University. His primary research interests are social movements, environmental sociology, political sociology and environmental justice. He studies protest and repression in various political and historical contexts. He is currently studying dissident activities in authoritarian settings, as well as environmental activism in several contaminated communities in the United States and the Czech Republic.

Alison E. Adams

Alison E. Adams is Assistant Professor in the School of Forest Resources and Conservation at the University of Florida. Her research interests center on environmental sociology and social movements. She is currently examining community conflict surrounding environmental issues such as industrial contamination and controversial land use decisions. Her work has been published in outlets such as Social Forces, Mobilization, and Research in Social Movements, Conflict and Change.