Institutional theories of sanctions combine elements of the punishment and expressive approaches. Like the punishment perspective, Florida State University An Institutional Theory of Sanctions Onset and Success
: Senders are more likely to initiate sanctions against states where they believe the political institutions will make the sanctions effective.
Democracies are more frequent senders and tend to target those most vulnerable to economic pressure. 2007. An Institutional Theory of Sanctions Onse...
: For sanctions to work, they must create enough political pressure on the leader's "winning coalition"—the essential group of supporters needed to stay in power.
Autocratic leaders benefit from the scarcity created by sanctions to reward loyalists. Institutional theories of sanctions combine elements of the
: Nondemocratic leaders have smaller coalitions and can use the rents (extra resources) created by economic restrictions to buy off their core supporters, often making them more secure rather than less. Onset and Initiation
: The authors suggest that majoritarian democratic politics may "overproduce" sanctions as a policy tool due to domestic demands from various interest groups within their own large winning coalitions. Summary of Hypotheses Institutional Effect Sanction Success : For sanctions to work, they must create
The authors utilize the Selectorate Theory to explain why sanctions often fail against autocracies but are more effective against democracies: