Replication Data for: ‘The Pandemic Was a Global Exam, and Our Country Came In First’: Autocratic Performance Legitimacy in Saudi Arabia

Abstract: Existing scholarship establishes that authoritarian regimes make discursive claims about their legitimacy yet does not tell us what makes these claims effective. This article argues that authoritarian legitimation narratives are more effective when co-produced by the government, media, and pro-government supporters, rather than just being centrally disseminated talking points. Media outlets and supporters can expand basic government talking points to provide a more engaging and fleshed-out narrative for audiences. The article uses the effective handling of the Covid-19 pandemic by the Saudi government to demonstrate how this narration translated trust in state capacity into performance legitimacy of the regime. Saudi media figures and pro-government supporters discussed successful policies in relation to countries with higher international status (chiefly in the West) and those assumed to have higher state capacity (such as China). These narratives served to legitimate the Saudi system of governance specifically, rather than authoritarianism in general. This article demonstrates this argument by evaluating statements by the government, original media sources and more than 90 interviews with Saudi nationalists, intellectuals, and entrepreneurs, while speaking to the relational character of performance legitimation beyond Saudi Arabia.

摘要：现有学术研究已证实，威权政权（authoritarian regimes）会就自身统治合法性发表话语主张，但尚未阐明这类主张何以生效。本文提出，当威权统治的合法性叙事由政府、媒体与亲政府支持者共同创作时，其传播效果将优于仅由中央统一发布的官方宣传口径。媒体机构与支持者可对基础官方宣传口径进行拓展，为受众打造更具吸引力、内容更为丰满的叙事文本。
本文以沙特阿拉伯政府对新冠疫情的有效应对为例，阐释此类叙事如何将民众对国家治理能力的信任转化为政权的绩效合法性（performance legitimacy）。沙特媒体人士与亲政府支持者会将本国的成功政策与国际地位更高的国家（主要为西方国家）以及被认为治理能力更强的国家（如中国）进行对标分析。此类叙事专门为沙特的治理体系赋予合法性，而非泛泛地为威权体制辩护。
本文通过梳理政府公开声明、原始媒体报道以及对90余名沙特民族主义者、知识分子与企业家的访谈内容，验证了上述论点，并探讨了沙特以外地区绩效合法性的关系性特征。