Authoritarianism Notes

Defining Authoritarianism

What is authoritarianism?

a political system in which a small group of individuals exercises power over the state without being constitutionally responsible to the public

Since 1990, Freedom House notes that the number of electoral democracies has risen from 69 out of 167 countries to 119 out of 192. There have been solid gains in all regions of the world, except the Near East.

freedom is an everyday reality in 89 countries for 2.8 billion people (44 percent of the world's population). An additional 54 countries representing 1.2 billion people are considered only partly free because rights are undermined by conflict, authoritarianism, or corruption. The remainder of the world's population lives in unfree countries (mostly in China).

Features of authoritarianism:

Dominant control of one person or one party

No democratic elections

No concept of popular sovereignty

Very top-down approach to governance

Restricted freedom

However - authoritarian regimes vary widely. Only thing they have in common is the

COMMITMENT TO REMAIN IN POWER

Some examples: fascism (Italy), Nazism (Germany), Communism (USSR and China)

Sometimes, only associated with leaders (Karimov's regime, Kim Jong Il's NK)

Totalitarianism is a different FORM of authoritarianism

Totalitarianism: practiced by authoritarian regimes that possess some form of strong ideology that seeks to transform fundamental aspects of state, society, and the economy, usually through force

Example: Nazism, give examples

Many benefits to violence - makes change QUICK, and according to Arendt, kills the human impulse to oppose these measures

Key examples: Stalinist Russia, Hitler's Germany, Khmer Rouge in Cambodia

Khmer Rouge: 1975 - Lon Nol is overthrown as the Khmer Rouge led by Pol Pot occupy Phnom Penh. Sihanouk briefly becomes head of state, the country is re-named Kampuchea.

All urban dwellers are forcibly evacuated to the countryside to become agricultural workers. Money becomes worthless, basic freedoms are curtailed and religion is banned. The Khmer Rouge coin the phrase "Year Zero".

Hundreds of thousands of the educated middle-classes are tortured and executed in special centres. Others starve, or die from disease or exhaustion. The total death toll during the next three years is estimated to be at least 1.7 million.

1976 - The country is re-named Democratic Kampuchea. Sihanouk resigns, Khieu Samphan becomes head of state, Pol Pot is prime minister.

Only one totalitarian state exists now - North Korea

Originally communist - now can be labeled as a personality cult

On the intellectual front, he's credited with having extended Kim Il-sung's personal philosophy of Juche, or self-reliance, which has been the guiding light for North Korea's development.

His other feats include writing six operas in two years, and personally designing the huge Juche tower in Pyongyang.

Sources of authoritarianism:

Traditional or pre-modern setting: there are some scholars who argue that authoritarianism will only originate in societies with pre-modern structures (traditionalism, values, culture, religion)

Other scholars say, authoritarianism originates when social mobilization and social change causes disruption in the system. So, for instance, countries that undergo RAPID INDUSTRIALIZATION will be more susceptible to authoritarian forces

Clive Thomas: argues that "highly fragmented social formations of developing countries, combined with their multiethnic and multiracial populations, encourage the vigorous promotion of the state as the principle unifying force and unifying symbol of the country

Book differentiates between ECONOMIC and POLITICAL sources for authoritarianism

Economic:

Liberals argue free markets will lead to democracy

Free markets will distribute trade much more equally, and will stimulate the growth of a BOURGEOIS MIDDLE CLASS

Two consequential developments:

greater education among middle classes --> less likely to tolerate authoritarianism

will resist any overreaching power of the state, wants to have the opportunity to make as much money as possible

Liberal argument follows that when there are GREAT DISPARITIES IN WEALTH, more prone to authoritarian system to radically rectify it

Communist argument is a bit different

Say root cause of problems is CAPITALISM

wealth causes exploitation of others - marxists believe that the middle class would embrace an authoritarian system if it meant keeping the lower class at their disposal

Who's right? Still hard to say

Singapore is a troubling reality for most political scientists - they're not sure how to explain it adequately - free market authoritarian state

Most democratic states have a capitalist system - and even in capitalism's failure, not all states succumbed to authoritarian rule (although discuss first 60 days of FDR and Hitler, very similar)

Is it necessary to have a free economy to have a democracy? Many scholars in post-Communism have argued that - but what is the validity of the argument?

Some say, in order for capitalism to be constructed, political rights MUST be restricted

Examples of Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan (rapid development under semi-authoritarian conditions)

However, most authoritarian economies suffer from TOO MUCH INTERFERENCE, and stagnate as a result

Communist autocracies are difficult - because it's impossible to CHECK THE STATE

Societal reasons for authoritarianism:

Certain cultural institutions are more amenable to authoritarianism because they promote such values as hierarchy, community over individual rights, and deference to authority

Yet without SOME degree of these elements, could democracy even work?

Islam

Is an Islamic state and a democratic state contradictory?

Robin Wright: resistance to democracy is not a tenet of the Islamic faith

obstacles to democracy are: Ba'athism, and communism in Central Asia

illiteracy, disease, poverty, no local history on democracy

repressive states can isolate their people from democratic ideas

Islam, like its Judeo-Christian predecessors, preaches equality,

justice, and human dignity

also have three traditions would would assist Islamic states in

democratisation: itjihad (interpretation), ijma (consensus), shura

(consultation)

Sam Gandchi, IRANSCOPE

no - Islam and democracy do NOT mix

says, yes, there are different traditions within Islam - but allowing

ONLY Islam in states is not pluralism, it's apartheid

argues that the West only became democratic after it became

secular

Other arguments against Islam and democracy:

theocracy is incompatible with democracy

Democracy only embraces a specific type of social and cultural

system - namely the Christian West

Save some debate for Thursday for Clash of Civilizations

Other Social issues

Asia - "Asian values," "Confucian values"

loyalty to family, corporation, and nation

forgoing personal freedom for the sake of the community

pursuit of academic and technological excellence

work ethic

Not compatible with democracy because:

persons of moral authority will decide rule of law

paternalism over legalism

Compatible because:

it doesn't REJECT IDEA of democracy

just a different form of democracy

Also - look at failure of the interpretation of the "Latin" inclination to authoritarianism

Authoritarianism and Political Control

Many debates about the sources of authoritarianism - but there are several methods that political scientists have observed

Violence and Surveillance

violence is often easiest method for governments to assert control

Inspires fear in citizens - will discourage disobedience of the law

For instance: Stalin's purges, killed from 5 million to 20 million

Also, morality patrols in Iran - have been known to attack women

who are not wearing the veil properly, or who are walking around

with men not in their family

Show trials - Imre Nagy - Hungarian, talk about 1956 Revolution

Surveillance: Nazi state, NK, China to some extent

Makes the citizens distrust each other and fear betrayal on all ends

Stasi in East Germany - opening of the files, Dietlind's story

Glasnost - Gorbachev - opening up of files

Cooptation -

Members of the public are brought into a beneficial relationship with the state and government

Forms of cooptation: corporatism: where there are a limit # of groups that claim to represent society

the state then funnels benefits and capital to the heads of these organizations, buying their support for their regime

ex: China, one big corporatist state

arranges society in hierarchical order

each sector has an organization that is all powerful (power granted by state)

each performs its role, and defies the model of competition that democracy is based on

takes away personal opinions and public's ability to influence decisions

Spain and Portugal until the 1970s

Clientelism - "Clientelism refers to the structuring of political power through networks of informal dyadic relations that link individuals of unequal power in relationships of exchange. In clientelistic structures of authority, power is vested in the top individual (the boss, sovereign, or head of clan) who personally decides how to distribute resources according to personal preferences. When applied to Mexico, this perspective represents the state as a top-down pyramid headed by the chief of the executive branch, who directly or indirectly dispenses favors to those below through complex patron-client relations that link the top of the social structure to the base. Civil society, in contrast, is perceived as a fragmented set of vertical relationships inhibiting the formation of horizontal interest groupings, whether based on party or social class..."

Book's definition: process by which the state coopts members of the public by providing specific benefits or favors to a single person or a small group in return for public support

very corrupt

examples: Mobutu Sese-Seko in Zaire, also political machines in Japan (Liberal Party) and political machines in NYC (Tammany Hall) and modern Chicago (Daly clan)

How do states succeed in coopting?

rent-seeking: political leaders rent out parts of the state to their patrons, who control public goods that otherwise would have been distributed fairly

ex: post office examples

Personality Cults:

promotion of the image of an authoritarian leader not merely as a political figure,

but as someone who embodies the spirit of the nation

ex: Kim Jong-il, 2 operas

Stalin - who was actually quite short and had a deformed arm

media and culture play into it - but at times they have to to continue to exist

successes are due to the leader, failures due on other people or other countries

Cults of personality don't just succeed by playing up the attributes of the leader - they have to terrorize the public as well

Stalin and Kim Jong Il never self-destructed - but Ceaucescu did