Opposition parties and hybrid regime change: evidence from Mexico, Russia, Taiwan, and Turkey

This paper examines the role of opposition parties in regime change within hybrid regimes. Two cases of autocratization (Russia and Turkey) and two of democratisation (Mexico and Taiwan) are selected to illustrate different trajectories of regime transformation under hybrid regimes. We focus on three key dimensions of opposition party politics that potentially affect the speed of regime transformation: a) the relationship between major opposition parties and the incumbent, b) the relationship among opposition parties, and c) the extent of opposition coordination against the incumbent. We posit that each of these dimensions substantially affects the speed of regime transformation, whether towards democracy (slow: Taiwan; fast: Mexico) or autocracy (slow: Turkey; fast: Russia).