How Do Authoritarian Regimes Evaluate Effectiveness of Given Action?

I was wondering how authoritarian regimes assess efficacy of tools and actions they take. I'm not sure this question is answerable because again, this may be a stupid question. How do authoritarian systems evaluate effectiveness of given action? So it's Bulgaria, it's 1976. We put out a TV show that's designed to sort of highlight the virtues of strong Bulgarian communist ethos. How internally am I saying, you know what, Martin, that was a hit?"