Chapter 6: Authoritarian Regimes

  • tldr

    • authoritarian systems do not provide any official mechanism by which the people can hold the government accountable for its actions and policies
    • many factors can influence the manner in which authoritarianism emerges and endures, including economic, social, religious and historical conditions
    • authoritarian systems primarily use coercion and cooptation to maintain rule and legitimacy, which strong patterns of state corporatism and patron-clientelism
    • authoritarian systems can take many forms, including military rule, personal rule, one-party states, and theocratic rule

  • authoritarian regimes: don't give people a way to change the government

  • totalitarianism: attempt to control and dominate every aspect of their people's lives

    • not the same as authoritarianism

  • most authoritarian regimes are not totalitarian

Sources of Authoritarian Rule

  • economic factors
    • massive economic inequality can contribute to authoritarianism while a large and broad middle class would undermine authoritarian rule
    • widespread poverty and deep inequality can lead to either the wealthy using the power of the state or the "have-nots" seizing control from the elites through revolution
      • both end in authoritarianism
  • social factors
    • political culture: norms for people in power
    • statism: the tendency to trust in the state for security and provision of basic needs
  • religious factors
    • countries with ties to Catholicism and Islam have been much slower to develop democracy than countries rooted in Protestant denominations of Christianity

Authoritarian Means of Control

  • coercion: forcibly compelling people to submit to the regime either indirectly (surveillance) or directly (brute force)
    • Tienanmen Square in China (direct coercion)
  • state control of the media
    • authoritarian regimes restrict independence of the media to report news that could be problematic for the government
      • creation of a state owned and operated media outlet
      • censorship of content
      • shutdown of media outlets
      • arrest, intimidation, or targeted killings of journalists
  • restrictions on civil society
    • government control on civil societies
      • requiring registration
      • blocking specific types of groups
      • censorship of a group's messaging
      • banning the entry of NGOs
      • arresting organizers or participants or protest demonstrations
  • intimidation of political opposition
    • arrest of opposition leaders and candidates
    • disqualifying other party
    • questionable conduct of elections or ballot-counting processes
    • restricting opposition candidates' access to media
  • cooptation
    • state corporatism: state controls creation and organization of civil societies
    • patron-clientelism: rulers in authoritarian systems place people into key positions of power which is often for personal gain
    • corruption: abuse of authority for personal gain
      • power vs authority
        • power: motivate people to do something that they would not
        • authority: official position
        • power from authority but does not need to come from authority
  • Personality Cult
    • leader becomes unifying symbol of pride and patriotism of the people
    • Mao China and Stalinist Soviet Union

Types of Authoritarian Regimes

  • personal rule
    • historical absolutist monarchies of Europe
  • military rule
    • comes from coup d'état
    • Nigeria
  • one-party rule
    • dominant-party system
    • CCP China
  • theocracy
    • rule by god; power held by religious people
    • Supreme Leader's view on religious text is the law of the land
    • Islam