Compare and contrast the methods used to maintain power in two authoritarian states, each from a different region.

Candidates will give an account of the similarities and differences between the methods of maintaining power that were employed in two authoritarian states referring to both states throughout the response. While the focus of the response must be within the timeframe of this topic, the periods covered do not need be contemporaneous. However, each of the examples chosen must be from a different region. Methods to be considered might include, but need not be limited to, political, legal or social methods. These may have been effective or ineffective or a combination of both but the response must not be a descriptive list of policies, for example, without some assessment of how these helped or hindered the maintenance of power within each state.