Patterns of incumbents’ repression during autocratization

How do incumbents attack accountability during autocratization? The literature focuses on what democratic institutions autocratizers undermine, yet incumbents’ steps in attacking accountability measures are overlooked. In this article, we provide a conceptual framework on repressive patterns that incumbents use during autocratization, divided into three steps: (1) legitimization rhetoric; (2) legal engineering; (3) coercive control. We posit that anti-democratic incumbents use these three steps sequentially, moving from rhetorical to more coercive actions, aiming at swiftly attacking horizontal, vertical, and diagonal accountability measures. Empirically, we use a comparative case study of Hungary (2010–2023) and North Macedonia (2006–2017) to trace anti-democratic incumbents’ repressive patterns. We find that anti-democratic incumbents use rhetorical and legal means in rapid sequence to successfully attack the first targeted accountability measure, enforce legal engineering against all accountability measures, yet diverge in using coercion. These results can inform the literature on democratic resilience and policy practitioners on democratic aids by highlighting the value of timely responses to early steps on incumbents’ strategies of repression.