Permitting outspoken criticism can actually mask tighter political control

Evidence

The greater degree of outspokenness is, however, misleading and does not really mean any greater freedom. On the contrary, the relaxation of pressure on the population in general is an excellent example of the skill of the re´gime in political manipulation—perhaps the only political skill which they possess to any degree. While, wisely, they are allowing people to talk more freely, they are allowing them far less scope to do anything about it. — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans, 1246

Categorization

• DEFINE: Models a counterintuitive mechanism of authoritarian rule: speech freedom as a substitute for action freedom.
• XREF: Relates to theories of authoritarian co-optation (e.g., ‘safety valve’ arguments) and to contemporary debates about whether speech liberalization signals genuine regime opening. — connects to: A regime can combine nominal constitutional review with aggressive closure of the political arena — Charles Tilly, Regimes and Repertoires, 497; Bribery rather than repression was the chief tool for controlling media and legislators — Charles Tilly, Regimes and Repertoires, 63
• SEED: Essay angle: when does outspokenness function as regime safety valve rather than genuine dissent — a test applicable to modern autocracies.