Oxford University Press, forthcoming, February 2026. Order here! 
​Book's Media Kit available here.
Media features: The Boston Globe, Die Zeit, Buenos Aires Herald. 

"An intellectual milestone."  - James A. Robinson, University of Chicago; 2024 Nobel Laureate in Economics

"A must read for anyone interested in understanding the security apparatus that undergirds authoritarianism."  - Jennifer Gandhi, Yale University

"Mundane individual concerns often drive large-scale, collective phenomena. Scharpf and Gläßel provide a masterful demonstration of this important and relatively overlooked mechanism [...]." - Stathis N. Kalyvas, University of Oxford

"This groundbreaking book [...] is sure to fascinate and inform students and observers of authoritarian politics alike." - Erica Frantz, Michigan State University

"In the present era of democratic backsliding, it has become crucial to understand what motivates today's aspiring strongmen. This timely monograph does precisely that and it does it masterfully!" - Lars-Erik Cederman, ETH Zürich

"Compelling reading for anyone seeking to understand the banality of evil, or at least of evil organizations." - Jacob N. Shapiro, Princeton University

"This must-read and incredibly timely book explains how the handmaidens of authoritarianism and those risking their lives to stop it through coups are driven by the same misfortune: stalling careers in the security services." - Jennifer Earl, University of Delaware

​The book is part of the The Anatomy of the Authoritarian Security Apparatus (AASAP) project,
funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG).