Authoritarianism

1. Authoritarianism

2. Definition • Form of government characterized by absolute obedience to a formal authority • Little individual freedom • Expectation of unquestioned obedience • Four qualities • Constraints on political institutions & groups • Basis of legitimacy based on emotion (regime is a necessary evil to combat societal problems) • Neither intensive nor extensive political mobilization + restraints on mass public • Formally ill-defined, vague executive power

3. Characteristics • Highly concentrated centralized power • Political repression • Exclusion of political challengers • Use of political parties & mass organizations to mobilize people around goals of the regime • Embrace informal & unregulated exercise of political power • Deprivation of civil liberties • Single-Party State – single political party has right to form government • Most have been ruled following ideology of Marxism-Leninism and international solidarity or by parties following nationalist or fascist ideology • Not always authoritarian • Not all authoritarian states are single-party states

4. Types of Authoritarian Regimes • Traditional Authoritarian Regimes • Ruling authority (single person) maintained in power through a combination of appeals to traditional legitimacy, patron-client ties, and repression • Example: Ethiopia under HaileSelassie I • Bureaucratic-Military Authoritarian Regimes • Governed by a coalition of military officers who act pragmatically (not ideologically) within limits of bureaucratic mentality • Bureaucratic authoritarian regimes use state apparatus to rationalize & develop the economy • South Korea under Park Chung-hee

5. Subcategories • Personalistic – arbitrary rule & authority exercised mainly through patronage networks & coercion • More prone to corruption than single-party and military regimes • Shorter-lived regimes more corrupt than those trying to maintain power for longer period • Seen in post-colonial Africa • Populist – mobilizational regimes in which strong, charismatic, manipulative leader rules through a coalition involving key lower-class groups • Example: Argentina under Perón

6. Dictatorships • Political authority rests in one person or political system • Despotism or Oligarchy • May coincide with totalitarianism • Authority exercised through oppressive mechanisms • Politicians regulate nearly every aspect of public & private behavior of average people • Employ political propaganda to suppress proponents of alternative governing systems • Examples • Adolf Hitler in Nazi Germany • Benito Mussolini in Fascist Italy • Mobutu SeseSeko in Zaire from 1965-1997 (embezzled $5B from his country) • Ferdinand Marcos in the Philippines stole $5-10B • More than $400B stolen from treasury of Nigerian leaders between 1960 and 1999

7. Totalitarianism • Political system in which the state holds total authority over society • Seeks to control all aspects of public & private life • Economy, education, art, science, private life, morals of citizens • Official ideology penetrates societal structure • Attempts to control thoughts & actions • Differences from authoritarianism • Charisma: high in T, low in A • Ends of power: public in T, private in A • Corruption low in T, high in A • Official ideology in T, not in A • Examples • Joseph Stalin in the Soviet Union • Benito Mussolini in Fascist Italy • Adolf Hitler in Nazi Germany • North Korea’s ruling family • Mao Zedong in China (albeit less successful than Stalin)

8. Review Main Ideas • Authoritarian regimes expect absolute obedience to the ruler or ruling party. • Authoritarian regimes are often single-party states. • Authoritarian states employ propaganda to shape the political culture, rule through fear, and feature political repression for citizens. • Authoritarian regimes can take the shape of dictatorships. • Totalitarianism is an extreme form of authoritarianism; not all authoritarian states are totalitarian.