How do dictators gain power, and how do they manage to stay in power? Ruling an authoritarian regime involves much more than simply repressing opponents. Dictators must manage powerful elites who can become rivals, maintain the loyalty of the military and security forces, control information, respond to popular demands, and decide when to rely on repression and when to make concessions. At the same time, citizens living under authoritarian rule make their own choices about whether to comply, remain silent, or resist. This course examines how these struggles over power play out across authoritarian regimes. It looks at how dictators deal with threats to their rule, how they build and maintain support, and what can make even seemingly stable regimes vulnerable. Scenes and examples from movies, TV shows, video games, and other parts of popular culture will be used throughout the course to illustrate the central dilemmas of authoritarian politics and connect them to real-world cases. Students will come away with a better understanding of what keeps dictators in power, where their vulnerabilities come from, and why authoritarian regimes sometimes change or collapse.