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Cited by 1,564Political Conflict and GovernanceMemory, violence, and historyTerrorism, Counterterrorism, and Political Violence

State Repression and Political Order

Davenport, Christian·2007·Annual Review of Political Science
DOI 10.1146/annurev.polisci.10.101405.143216
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Abstract

▪ Abstract State repression includes harassment, surveillance/spying, bans, arrests, torture, and mass killing by government agents and/or affiliates within their territorial jurisdiction. Over the past 40 years, the systematic study of state repression has grown considerably. The development of this work, however, has been uneven. Though unified in their focus on the problem of order (i.e., trying to ascertain how political authorities wield coercive power amid potential and actual domestic challengers), different scholars tend to emphasize distinct aspects of the topic. Consequently, a great deal of progress has been made in specific areas but others have lagged behind. In this review, I attempt to identify the dominant traditions in the repression literature, the core empirical findings, and some persisting puzzles.

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  • Tanzania's 2015 Cybercrime Act empowers police to demand disclosure of personal information from ISPs and online content providers and has been used multiple times to charge journalists and regular online users for spreading fake news on Facebook and Twitter.

    “While addressing issues such as computer-related fraud, cyberbullying, and child pornography, 106 it also empowers police to demand disclosure of personal information from ISPs and online content providers.And it has been used multiple times to charge journalists and regular online users for spreading fake news on Facebook and Twitter.107”

    From Legalizing control: the rise of restrictive internet regulation in sub-Saharan Africa (2026) · cites this paper as [107]

  • FDI has been shown to supplement domestic savings, facilitate integration into the global economy, promote technological development and enhance the material well-being of the middle class.

    “FDI has been shown to supplement domestic savings, facilitate inte gration into the global economy, promote technological development 24 and enhance the material well-being of the middle class. 25”

    From Authoritarian collaboration and repression in the digital age: balancing foreign direct investment and control in internet infrastructure (2026) · cites this paper as [24]

  • Repression is a broad concept that historically includes actions or policies that are meant to, or actually do, raise the costs of activism.

    “Repression is a broad concept that historically includes actions or policies that are meant to, or actually do, raise the costs of activism (4, 5).”

    From Physical and virtual repertoires of contention (2022) · cites this paper as [5]

  • The lion's share of repression work has focused on violence by local or national police and/or militaries.

    “The lion’s share of this work has focused on violence by local or national police and/or militaries (5).”

    From Physical and virtual repertoires of contention (2022) · cites this paper as [5]

  • Over 50 years of research on repression shows that the major predictor of most forms of repression is the extent to which a movement or group is a threat.

    “Over 50 years of research on repression shows that the major predictor of most forms of repression is the extent to which a movement or group is a threat (5, 19, 175).”

    From Physical and virtual repertoires of contention (2022) · cites this paper as [5]

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Authors
Davenport, C.
Affiliations
University of Maryland, College Park (US)
Corresponding author
Davenport, Christian
ORCID
Davenport, Christian
Venue
Annual Review of Political Science
Publisher
Annual Reviews
Published
2007-06-01
Volume
10
Issue
1
Pages
1-23
ISSN
  • 1094-2939 (ISSN-L)
  • 1545-1577
DOI
10.1146/annurev.polisci.10.101405.143216
OpenAlex
W2149047800
Cited by
1,564
References
96
Citations by year
2026: 65 · 2025: 120 · 2024: 114 · 2023: 140 · 2022: 134 · 2021: 146 · 2020: 189 · 2019: 141 · 2018: 102 · 2017: 71 · 2016: 66 · 2015: 61 · 2014: 55 · 2013: 45 · 2012: 39
FWCI
9.47
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
Annual Review of Political Science (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Political Conflict and Governance
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Memory, violence, and history
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Terrorism, Counterterrorism, and Political Violence
Keywords
state repression, political order, coercive power, surveillance, torture, mass murder, arrests, ban, political authority, state-society relations

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