Autocratization and Political Dynasties: Evidence from Denmark

• In Event: Autocracy and Elites

Abstract

The existence of dynastic politicians is a common phenomenon across many types of political systems, but what increases or decreases their prevalence? Recent research has argued that increased political competition and democratic reforms may reduce the prevalence of political dynasties. In this article, we study whether these effects are symmetrical to political reforms which decrease the democratic features of a political system. We use the case of Denmark from 1849 to 1915, where a change to the constitution in 1866 created a privileged franchise to the upper chamber of the Danish parliament. However, since the voting rules to the lower chamber were unchanged, we are able to apply a difference-in-difference approach to show that this autocratizing reform indeed increased the share of dynastic politicians in the upper chamber relative to the lower chamber. The 1866 changes to the constitution increased the representation of the Danish nobility in the upper chamber of the parliament, including for members of the nobility with political-dynastic ties.

Authors

• Lasse Aaskoven, University of Southern Denmark

• Brenda Van Coppenolle, Sciences Po