ABSTRACT
Studies on the international dimension of authoritarianism have gained momentum in the last decade. The introductory chapter outlines the major fields of debate in the literature on autocratization, both in comparative politics and international relations, and presents the major added values of the book. These are in particular (1) the combination of different mechanisms of autocratization processes (promotion and diffusion), (2) the focus on the regional context when studying autocratization, and (3) an inter-regional comparison by relying on an approach inspired by comparative area studies (CAS).
