The administrative state is a powerful tool because it can control the population and, in moments of crisis, help leaders put down popular threats to their rule. But a state does not act; bureaucrats work through the state to carry out a leader's demands. In turn, leaders attempt to use their authority over the state to manage bureaucrats in a way that induces bureaucratic behavior that furthers their policy and political goals. Focusing on Kenya since independence, Hassan weaves together micro-level personnel data, rich archival records, and interviews to show how the country's different leaders have strategically managed, and in effect weaponized, the public sector. This nuanced analysis shows how even states categorized as weak have proven capable of helping their leader stay in power. With engaging evidence and compelling theory, Regime Threats and State Solutions will interest political scientists and scholars studying authoritarian regimes, African politics, state bureaucracy, and political violence.

'Regime Threat and State Solutions is a highly original and important contribution to the study of state, regime, and regime type. Hassan's focus on provincial administration (executive agencies responsible for territorial political control, repression, and the workings of the local state) has wide applicability throughout Africa and beyond. Hassan shows how everyday tools of state coercion and control are deployed unevenly and strategically across the national territory in efforts to protect rulers from threats from both above and below.'

Catherine Boone - London School of Economics

'How do leaders effectively use the state to respond to popular threats to their rule? In Regime Threats and State Solutions, Mai Hassan lays out a comprehensive argument about how leaders manage the loyalty-efficiency trade-off when trying to select and incentivize personnel who can both repress and coopt on behalf of the regime. Novel data and rich details from the Kenyan case support her claims, advancing our understanding of how bureaucracies are organized in service of leaders’ political survival. This book will be a cornerstone for future work on state institutions in autocracies and unconsolidated democracies.'

Jennifer Gandhi - Emory University

'Hassan's impressive study significantly deepens our understanding of authoritarianism. Her nuanced theoretical framework takes us well beyond existing scholarship to explain how leaders can strategically deploy the state bureaucracy to win support of rival elites as well as ensure control over restive constituencies. The book's sophisticated empirical analyses draw on rich, unique data from Kenya that have never appeared elsewhere. The interviews with government officials provide new insights from those directly involved in executing regime-preserving orders, while the statistical analyses of career trajectories for nearly 2,000 bureaucrats reveal just how leaders are able to manipulate appointments and promotions within the bureaucracy in order to keep themselves in power. The book is a must-read for scholars of authoritarianism, African politics, and public administration.'

Leonardo R. Arriola - University of California, Berkeley

'Carefully argued and meticulously researched, Hassan offers a strategic logic for why bureaucratic capacity varies so widely within post-colonial African states. Hassan systematically dissects and analyzes wide-ranging data from the Kenyan Provincial Administration with the goal of understanding how Kenya's leaders have used bureaucrats to manage threats to power … An outstanding and important contribution.'

Lisa Blaydes - Stanford University

'Hassan’s book should be required reading for students of contemporary authoritarian rule.'

Source: Foreign Affairs