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This cumulative thesis consists of six single contributions: five independent essays and an introductory chapter. All of the conributions have been published or accepted for publication. The overarching scope of these essays is to analyze different factors accounting for the stability of post-Soviet authoritarian regimes and the obstacles, which Western democracy promoters can face when dealing with autocrats. The starting point for these enquiries has been the striking inability of Western democracies and in particular of the European Union to encourage and to assist political transformation in the majority of the post-Soviet republics.
While in some Eastern European countries a wave of colored revolutions challenged existing political orders, Belarus has remained largely untouched by mass protests. In Minsk, the diffusion of democratic ideas leading to the mobilization of population meets a stable authoritarian regime. Nevertheless, the stagnating democratization process cannot be only attributed to the strong authoritarian rule and abuse of power. Indeed, Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko still enjoys popularity by a large part of the population. Although international observers report that elections in Belarus have never been free and fair, few commentators doubt that Lukashenko would not have won in democratic elections. This evidence suggests that the regime succeeded in building a strong legitimizing basis, which has not been seriously challenged during the last two decades. This paper explores the authoritarian stability in Belarus by looking at the patterns of state ideology. The government effectively spreads state ideology since the early 2000s. Ideology departments have been created in almost all state institutions. The education sector has been affected by the introduction of the compulsory course "The Fundamentals of Belarusian State Ideology" at all universities, and increasing attention to the patriotic education at schools. Based on document analysis, I trace the creation of "ideological vertical" in Belarus and focuse on the issue of ideology in education and youth policy sectors.