Replication Data for: Autocratic Audiences and Linguistic Complexity

Making policy speeches is a major activity of authoritarian elites, yet we know surprisingly little about their incentives to be understood by constituents, and whether more effective communicators are rewarded. While many authoritarian actors care little about their audience and speak tediously, we argue that, in the service of legitimation and co-optation, simpler, more effective communication is required in protest-prone regions with lower regime support. Because such regions often have more developed economies and educated populations, paradoxically, this results in the opposite dynamics to that under democracy, where simpler speech is addressed at less educated, poorer constituents. Drawing on data from Russian governors’ major policy addresses and social media posts, and supplementing it with federal parliamentary speeches, we find that the linguistic complexity of elites reflects their audiences; elites also reduce it when their strategic context changes. In turn, more effective communicators are promoted. Our findings contribute to an understanding of authoritarian co-optation, elite incentives, responsiveness, and propaganda.政策演讲是威权精英（Authoritarian Elites）的核心政务活动之一，然而学界对其为获得民众理解的行为动机，以及更高效的沟通者是否会获得政治奖赏，却知之甚少。尽管多数威权行为体（Authoritarian Actors）并不在意其受众，且演讲内容枯燥乏味，但我们认为，为达成合法性构建与吸纳笼络（co-optation）的目标，在政权支持度偏低、易引发抗议的地区，亟需采用更简洁高效的沟通策略。由于此类地区往往经济更为发达、民众受教育水平更高，这便催生了与民主制度下截然相反的运作逻辑——在民主语境中，简洁的演讲通常面向受教育程度较低、经济状况较差的民众。我们依托俄罗斯州长的重要政策演讲与社交媒体发文数据，并辅以联邦议会演讲资料展开研究，结果发现精英的语言复杂度与其受众特征高度匹配；当战略环境发生变化时，精英也会主动降低语言复杂度。相应地，沟通效率更高的精英会获得政治晋升。本研究结果有助于深化对威权政权吸纳笼络、精英激励机制、政策回应性以及宣传运作的理解。