Contrary to what’s commonly believed, authoritarian leaders who consent to keep elections are usually able to stay in power longer than autocrats who won’t allow the populace to vote. Within this interesting and provocative reserve, Nic Cheeseman and Brian Klaas expose the limitations of nationwide elections as a means of promoting democratization, and reveal the six important strategies that dictators use to undermine the electoral procedure to assure triumph for themselves. Based on their firsthand experiences as election watchers and their a huge selection of interviews with presidents, excellent ministers, diplomats, election officials, and conspirators, Cheeseman and Klaas record cases of election rigging from Argentina to Zimbabwe, including significant examples from Brazil, India, Nigeria, Russia, and the United States-touching over the 2016 election. This eye-opening research presents a sobering summary of corrupted professional politics, while offering fertile intellectual floor for the introduction of fresh solutions for protecting democracy from authoritarian subversion.