Topic 1.10 Notes – Political Stability
What Political Stability Is
Political stability means the state can maintain order, enforce laws, preserve authority, and keep politics functioning without breakdown. You can have stability in a democracy or in an authoritarian regime. That is why stability does not automatically mean freedom, fairness, or public support.
A few linked ideas show up constantly here:
- Legitimacy means people believe the regime has the right to rule.
- State capacity means the government can actually carry out decisions.
- Rule of law means laws are applied consistently to rulers and citizens.
- Sovereignty means the state controls its territory and population.
The exam loves this distinction. Instability is not just a protest, a scandal, or a new prime minister. It becomes instability when the regime’s control, authority, or ability to govern is under real threat.
Internal Actors That Strengthen or Threaten Stability
Internal actors matter because they shape whether conflict stays inside institutions or spills into violence.
- Civil society and protest groups can strengthen stability by exposing abuse, monitoring elections, and giving people peaceful ways to demand change. Protest can disrupt daily life in the short run, but peaceful protest often prevents deeper instability by channeling anger into politics instead of violence.
- Corrupt officials and patronage networks weaken stability because corruption is the abuse of public office for private gain. That erodes trust, weakens rule of law, and tells citizens that enforcement is unequal. Patronage can hold elites together for a while, but it makes institutions weak.
- Criminal organizations, insurgents, and separatists directly challenge state power. They use violence, control territory, intimidate officials, and sometimes replace the state locally.
- Mexican drug cartels weaken state control through trafficking, violence, and corruption.
- Boko Haram and ISWAP in Nigeria challenge the state through insurgency and terrorism.
- Kurdish and Baluch armed groups in Iran challenge central authority in minority regions.
- Religious, ethnic, and gender-based divisions can become destabilizing when the state treats groups unequally.
- Baha’i discrimination in Iran shows unequal religious treatment.
- Muslim-Christian tensions in Nigeria can deepen conflict.
- Compulsory hijab enforcement in Iran helped spark gender-based protest.
Different Ways States Respond
States respond along a spectrum. The response often matters as much as the original challenge.
Accommodation and reform
Governments may negotiate, pass new laws, create oversight bodies, offer amnesty, reform police, or expand transparency. These responses usually help long-term legitimacy if people believe they are real.
Coercion and repression
States may censor, arrest, prosecute, or use police and military force. This can restore order fast, especially in authoritarian or hybrid regimes, but it often weakens legitimacy and deepens anger.
Mixed responses
Many governments do both at once.
- Nigeria and End SARS included promises to dissolve SARS plus repression.
- Iran and Woman, Life, Freedom brought arrests, force, and censorship.
- Russia after the 2011 protests tightened restrictions and punished opposition.
- China after Tiananmen used military repression, and after many local protests it sometimes makes limited concessions while blocking national organizing.
Comparing Key Cases Across the Course Countries
Anticorruption policy is one of the clearest ways to compare regime responses.
| Country | Main approach | What it shows |
|---|---|---|
| UK | Parliamentary scrutiny, courts, media, Freedom of Information Act 2000 | Open accountability strengthens trust |
| Mexico | 2002 transparency law, INAI autonomy in 2014, National Anticorruption System 2015 | Reform exists, but impunity weakens enforcement |
| Nigeria | ICPC 2000, EFCC 2003, Freedom of Information Act 2011 | Formal institutions, uneven enforcement |
| China | CCP-led anticorruption, CCDI, Xi’s “tigers and flies” campaign after 2012 | Fights corruption while strengthening party control |
| Russia | Formal prosecutions, selective enforcement, repression of Alexei Navalny and the Anti-Corruption Foundation | Anticorruption can target opponents |
| Iran | Formal oversight bodies, weak independent media, selective enforcement | Control without transparent accountability |
Mass protest examples also get named directly on tests:
- China: Tiananmen 1989
- Iran: Green Movement 2009; Woman, Life, Freedom 2022
- Russia: 2011-12 protests; Navalny protests
- Mexico: Tlatelolco 1968; Ayotzinapa protests 2014
- Nigeria: End SARS 2020
- UK: Iraq War, austerity, Brexit, climate, and racial equality protests within normal democratic politics
Why Stability Matters
States care about stability because investors want predictability, security, and enforceable law. Stable states usually attract more private capital and FDI. Corruption, cartel violence, insurgency, and repression raise risk and can slow growth.
One nuance matters a lot. Visible order is not the same as solved problems. Repression can quiet a country without rebuilding legitimacy.
Key Takeaways
Political Stability
A political system’s capacity to preserve order, maintain authority, enforce decisions, manage conflict, and continue operating predictably
Internal Actors
People and organizations within a state whose actions can bolster or undermine state authority, rule of law, and regime stability
Political Corruption
The abuse of public office or authority for private benefit, including bribery, embezzlement, patronage, and misuse of public resources
Open Accountability vs. Politically Controlled Accountability
Open accountability permits citizens and independent institutions to expose misconduct; controlled accountability lets the state decide which accusations are investigated
United Kingdom Freedom of Information Act 2000
A law giving the public a legal right to request information from public authorities, subject to specified exemptions
Mexico’s 2002 Federal Transparency Law
A law that strengthened public access to Mexican government information as part of post-PRI transparency reforms
National Institute for Transparency, Access to Information and Personal Data Protection (INAI)
Mexico’s transparency body, granted constitutional autonomy in 2014 to oversee access to government information and personal-data protection
Mexico’s National Anticorruption System
The accountability system established by 2015 constitutional changes to coordinate Mexican anticorruption efforts, though weakened by enforcement and independence problems
Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC)
A formal Nigerian anticorruption body created in 2000
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)
A formal Nigerian anticorruption body established in 2003 to address economic and financial crimes
Nigeria Freedom of Information Act 2011
A law expanding legal access to Nigerian public records to improve government transparency
China’s “Tigers and Flies” Anticorruption Campaign
Xi Jinping’s post-2012 campaign punishing both high-ranking and lower-level officials through Communist Party-controlled enforcement
Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI)
The Chinese Communist Party body that plays a central role in China’s party-directed anticorruption campaign
Alexei Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation
A Russian opposition organization that publicized alleged elite corruption and faced prosecution, restrictions, and state repression
Iran’s Recognized Religious Minorities vs. the Baha’i Faith
Iran constitutionally recognizes Zoroastrians, Jews, and Christians, while unrecognized Baha’is face restrictions on education, employment, worship, and public life
Iran’s Compulsory Dress Rules
State-enforced gender regulations based on the regime’s Islamic character that became a major source of conflict over equality and personal liberty
Woman, Life, Freedom Movement
The nationwide Iranian protest movement sparked by Mahsa Jina Amini’s 2022 death after morality-police detention and met with arrests, force, executions, and communication restrictions
Mexican Drug Cartels
Violent narcotics-trafficking organizations that corrupt officials, intimidate public actors, and sometimes exercise de facto local control
Ayotzinapa Disappearances
The 2014 disappearance of 43 Mexican students involving local officials, police, and criminal actors, which became a symbol of impunity and state failure
Boko Haram
An organization that began a major insurgency in northeastern Nigeria in 2009 and has used bombings, assassinations, village attacks, and kidnappings
Biafran Separatism
Separatist mobilization connected to Biafra in southeastern Nigeria that challenges federal unity and authority
2009 Niger Delta Amnesty
A Nigerian policy offering benefits and reintegration to Niger Delta militants, reducing some attacks through accommodation rather than force alone
Mass Protest
Collective public action intended to influence government policy, enforcement, leadership, or the political system
State Accommodation vs. Coercion
Accommodation addresses demands through negotiation, concessions, or reform; coercion suppresses challengers through censorship, arrest, prosecution, or force
1989 Tiananmen Square Movement
A Chinese movement for political reform and greater accountability that the military ended on June 4, 1989, followed by continuing censorship
Iran’s 2009 Green Movement
A protest movement arising from a disputed presidential election and alleged fraud that faced censorship, arrests, and security-force repression
Tlatelolco Massacre
The October 2, 1968 killing of protesters by Mexican security forces, followed by an official account later contradicted by investigations and records
End SARS Movement
The 2020 Nigerian protest movement demanding abolition of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad and broader police reform; SARS was formally dissolved, but protesters also faced force
Selective Responsiveness
An authoritarian strategy of correcting limited problems or granting narrow concessions while suppressing independent organizations that could challenge regime control
Kurdish and Baluch Armed Organizations in Iran
Armed groups operating in Iran’s peripheral regions that the state has met with surveillance, arrests, executions, and security operations
Religious Conflict in Nigeria
Conflict between predominantly Muslim and Christian populations, often overlapping with ethnic, regional, and land-use disputes and worsened by unequal or ineffective enforcement
Notes
Political Stability
A political system’s capacity to preserve order, maintain authority, enforce decisions, manage conflict, and continue operating predictably
Internal Actors
People and organizations within a state whose actions can bolster or undermine state authority, rule of law, and regime stability
Political Corruption
The abuse of public office or authority for private benefit, including bribery, embezzlement, patronage, and misuse of public resources
Open Accountability vs. Politically Controlled Accountability
Open accountability permits citizens and independent institutions to expose misconduct; controlled accountability lets the state decide which accusations are investigated
United Kingdom Freedom of Information Act 2000
A law giving the public a legal right to request information from public authorities, subject to specified exemptions
Mexico’s 2002 Federal Transparency Law
A law that strengthened public access to Mexican government information as part of post-PRI transparency reforms
National Institute for Transparency, Access to Information and Personal Data Protection (INAI)
Mexico’s transparency body, granted constitutional autonomy in 2014 to oversee access to government information and personal-data protection
Mexico’s National Anticorruption System
The accountability system established by 2015 constitutional changes to coordinate Mexican anticorruption efforts, though weakened by enforcement and independence problems
Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC)
A formal Nigerian anticorruption body created in 2000
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)
A formal Nigerian anticorruption body established in 2003 to address economic and financial crimes
Nigeria Freedom of Information Act 2011
A law expanding legal access to Nigerian public records to improve government transparency
China’s “Tigers and Flies” Anticorruption Campaign
Xi Jinping’s post-2012 campaign punishing both high-ranking and lower-level officials through Communist Party-controlled enforcement
Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI)
The Chinese Communist Party body that plays a central role in China’s party-directed anticorruption campaign
Alexei Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation
A Russian opposition organization that publicized alleged elite corruption and faced prosecution, restrictions, and state repression
Iran’s Recognized Religious Minorities vs. the Baha’i Faith
Iran constitutionally recognizes Zoroastrians, Jews, and Christians, while unrecognized Baha’is face restrictions on education, employment, worship, and public life
Iran’s Compulsory Dress Rules
State-enforced gender regulations based on the regime’s Islamic character that became a major source of conflict over equality and personal liberty
Woman, Life, Freedom Movement
The nationwide Iranian protest movement sparked by Mahsa Jina Amini’s 2022 death after morality-police detention and met with arrests, force, executions, and communication restrictions
Mexican Drug Cartels
Violent narcotics-trafficking organizations that corrupt officials, intimidate public actors, and sometimes exercise de facto local control
Ayotzinapa Disappearances
The 2014 disappearance of 43 Mexican students involving local officials, police, and criminal actors, which became a symbol of impunity and state failure
Boko Haram
An organization that began a major insurgency in northeastern Nigeria in 2009 and has used bombings, assassinations, village attacks, and kidnappings
Biafran Separatism
Separatist mobilization connected to Biafra in southeastern Nigeria that challenges federal unity and authority
2009 Niger Delta Amnesty
A Nigerian policy offering benefits and reintegration to Niger Delta militants, reducing some attacks through accommodation rather than force alone
Mass Protest
Collective public action intended to influence government policy, enforcement, leadership, or the political system
State Accommodation vs. Coercion
Accommodation addresses demands through negotiation, concessions, or reform; coercion suppresses challengers through censorship, arrest, prosecution, or force
1989 Tiananmen Square Movement
A Chinese movement for political reform and greater accountability that the military ended on June 4, 1989, followed by continuing censorship
Iran’s 2009 Green Movement
A protest movement arising from a disputed presidential election and alleged fraud that faced censorship, arrests, and security-force repression
Tlatelolco Massacre
The October 2, 1968 killing of protesters by Mexican security forces, followed by an official account later contradicted by investigations and records
End SARS Movement
The 2020 Nigerian protest movement demanding abolition of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad and broader police reform; SARS was formally dissolved, but protesters also faced force
Selective Responsiveness
An authoritarian strategy of correcting limited problems or granting narrow concessions while suppressing independent organizations that could challenge regime control
Kurdish and Baluch Armed Organizations in Iran
Armed groups operating in Iran’s peripheral regions that the state has met with surveillance, arrests, executions, and security operations
Religious Conflict in Nigeria
Conflict between predominantly Muslim and Christian populations, often overlapping with ethnic, regional, and land-use disputes and worsened by unequal or ineffective enforcement
