Technology-enabled surveillance as a regime characteristic: re-authoritarianization in Central Asia

Rapidly advancing information and communication technologies, along with the proliferation of artificial intelligence and closed-circuit television, have profoundly reshaped state-society relations worldwide. Initially celebrated for their democratizing potential, these technologies have, over the past two decades, ushered in a wave of technology-enabled re-authoritarianization, with even established democracies now “at risk.” While numerous terms—such as digital authoritarianism and digital repression—seek to capture this shift, political science has largely neglected the structural role of technology-enabled surveillance. To address this gap, we propose extending Juan Linz and Alfred Stepan's (1996) seminal typology of regime characteristics by adding technology-enabled surveillance as a fifth dimension. To illustrate the empirical relevance of this conceptual extension, the contributions to our special section focus on Central Asia—a region marked by both rapid digitalization and authoritarian resurgence. They show how technological infrastructure is no longer a neutral tool but an essential regime characteristic.