ABSTRACT
Well-institutionalized autocracies are unlikely to commit political suicide. Faced by a crisis of authority, they may try to regain legitimacy by opening up the political field in a measured and controlled manner. The encouragement of civic groups in the absence of an effective political society has exacerbated the dilemmas facing mixed regimes. The durability of mixed systems is partly a consequence of the growing influence of political Islam. The ubiquity of mainstream illiberal Islamism has had several related consequences. Political control in mixed systems is normally exercised through corporatist and patron-client links, and when the need arises, through the heavy hand of the military or the security establishment. Mainstream Islamists in Algeria, Jordan, and Kuwait have done so as well, in large measure because they have concluded that the benefits of political accommodation outweigh the costs.
