This book investigates how authoritarian practices persist and evolve outside the traditional boundaries of the nation-state. Marlies Glasius, a scholar in international relations and political science, challenges the binary classification of states as either democratic or authoritarian. By shifting the analytical focus from state-level institutions to specific practices, she provides a framework for identifying authoritarian behaviors in diverse organizational and social contexts.

Experts view this work as a significant contribution to political theory by decoupling authoritarianism from statehood. Readers frequently note the academic density of the prose, which is intended for researchers and students of political science.