City Research Online

Abstract

Soft power is one of the most widely used concepts in political science, but it has underestimated the attractiveness of illiberal or autocratic states due to its inherent liberal bias. In response, this article proposes a framework of authoritarian attraction emphasising the relational nature of power with three distinct analytical categories: (1) sender strategies, (2) audience preferences, and (3) behavioural outcomes. By drawing on and synthesising existing literatures on (soft) power, authoritarian legitimation, diffusion, and audience studies, the article uses the case of China to explore authoritarian attempts to attract and persuade, how these attempts are perceived abroad, and to what extent authoritarian proliferation is driven by learning and emulation. Finally, the article provides an agenda for further research to sharpen our research questions and improve our methodological approaches towards a better understanding of authoritarian attraction.

Publication Type:	Article
Additional Information:	© 2026 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. The terms on which this article has been published allow the posting of the Accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s) or with their consent.
Publisher Keywords:	soft power, autocracies, legitimacy, attraction, authoritarian diffusion/learning
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HX Socialism. Communism. Anarchism J Political Science J Political Science > JZ International relations
Departments:	School of Policy & Global Affairs School of Policy & Global Affairs > Department of International Politics
SWORD Depositor:	Symplectic Administrator

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