Authoritarianism
Authoritarianism
Authoritarianism
Template:Forms of got Authoritarianism is a form of government.[1][2] It is characterized by absolute or blind[3] obedience to authority, as against individual freedom and related to the expectation of unquestioning obedience.[4] Juan Linz, whose 1964 description of authoritarianism is influential,[5] characterized authoritarian regimes as political systems characterized by four qualities: (1) "limited, not responsible, political pluralism"; that is, constraints on political institutions and groups (such as legislatures, political parties, and interest groups), (2) a basis for legitimacy based on emotion, especially the identification of the regime as a necessary evil to combat "easily recognizable societal problems" such as underdevelopment or insurgency; (3) neither "intensive nor extensive political mobilization" and constraints on the mass public (such as repressive tactics against opponents and a prohibition of antiregime activity) and (4) "formally ill-defined" executive power, often shifting or vague.[6]
Authoritarianism repression has declined, the state's top leadership is less personalized and more secure, and the level of mass mobilization has declined substantially." Examples include the Soviet Eastern bloc states in the mid-1980s. Authoritarian regimes are also sometimes subcategorized by whether they are personalistic or populist. Personalistic authoritarian regimes are characterized by arbitrary rule and authority exercised "mainly through patronage networks and coercion rather than through institutitions and formal rules." Personalistic authoritarian regimes have been seen in post-colonial Africa. By contrast, populist authoritarian regimes "are mobilizational regimes in which a strong, charismatic, manuipulative leader rules through a coalition involving key lower-class groups." Examples include Argentina under Pern and Egypt under Nasser. Authoritarianism is characterized by highly concentrated and centralized power maintained by political repression and the exclusion of potential challengers. It uses political parties and mass organizations to mobilize people around the goals of the regime.[9] Authoritarianism also tends to embrace the informal and unregulated exercise of political power, a leadership that is "self-appointed and even if elected cannot be displaced by citizens' free choice among competitors," the arbitrary deprivation of civil liberties, and little tolerance for meaningful opposition. A range of social controls also attempt to stifle civil society, while political stability is maintained by control over and support of the armed forces, a bureaucracy staffed by the regime, and creation of allegiance through various means of socialization and indoctrination. Authoritarian political systems may be weakened through "inadequate performance to demands of the people." Vestal writes that the tendency to respond to challenges to authoritarianism through tighter control instead of adaptation is a significant weakness, and that this overly rigid approach fails to "adapt to changes or to accommodate growing demands on the part of the populace or even groups within the system." Because the legitimacy of the state is dependent on performance, authoritarian states that fail to adapt may collapse. Authoritarianism is marked by "indefinite political tenure" of the ruler or ruling party (often in a single-party state) or other authority. The transition from an authoritarian system to a more democratic form of government is referred to as democratization. John Duckitt suggests a link between authoritarianism and collectivism, asserting that both stand in opposition to individualism. Duckitt writes that both authoritarianism and collectivism submerge individual rights and goals to group goals, expectations and conformities.
Authoritarianism
Totalitarianism Charisma Role conception Ends of power Corruption Official ideology High
Authoritarianism Low
Leader as function Leader as individual Public Low Yes Private High No Yes No
Sondrol argues that while both authoritarianism and totalitarianism are forms of autocracy, they differ in "key dichotomies": (1) Unlike their bland and generally unpopular authoritarian brethren, totalitarian dictators develop a charismatic 'mystique' and a mass-based, pseudo-democratic interdependence with their followers via the conscious manipulation of a prophetic image. (2) Concomitant role conceptions differentiate totalitarians from authoritarians. Authoritarians view themselves as individual beings, largely content to control, and often maintain, the status quo. Totalitarian self-conceptions are largely teleological. The tyrant is less a person than an indispensable 'function' to guide and reshape the universe. (3) Consequently, the utilisation of power for personal aggrandizement is more evident among authoritarians than totalitarians. Lacking the binding appeal of ideology, authoritarians support their rule by a mixture of instilling fear and granting rewards to loyal collaborators, engendering a kleptocracy. Thus, compared to totalitarian systems, authoritarian systems may also leave a larger sphere for private life, lack a guiding ideology, tolerate some pluralism in social organization, lack the power to mobilize the whole population in pursuit of national goals, and exercise their power within relatively predictable limits.
Authoritarianism
Authoritarianism
Authoritarianism in history
In contrast to the varying manifestations of authoritarianism, more democratic forms of governance as a standard mode of political organization became widespread only after the Industrial Revolution had established modernity. Tyrants and oligarchs bracketed the flourishing of democracy in ancient Athens; and kings and emperors preceded and followed experimentation with democratic forms in the Roman Republic. In the 15th century, Vlad Dracula is credited for being the first ruler of Wallachia and Transylvania to rule by Authoritarianism.[29]
Authoritarianism
Anti-authoritarianism
Anti-authoritarianism is opposition to authoritarianism, which is defined as a "a form of social organisation characterised by submission to authority". Anti-authoritarians usually believe in full equality before the law and strong civil liberties. Sometimes the term is used interchangeably with anarchism, an ideology which rejects the state and other compulsory forms of hierarchical authority altogether. Influential anarchist Mikhail Bakunin thought that "Does it follow that I reject all authority? Far from me such a thought. In the matter of boots, I refer to the authority of the bootmaker; concerning houses, canals, or railroads, I consult that of the architect or the engineer. For such or such special knowledge I apply to such or such a savant. But I allow neither the bootmaker nor the architect nor savant to impose his authority upon me. I listen to them freely and with all the respect merited by their intelligence, their character, their knowledge, reserving always my incontestable right of criticism and censure. I do not content myself with consulting a single authority in any special branch; I consult several; I compare their opinions, and choose that which seems to me the soundest. But I recognise no infallible authority, even in special questions; consequently, whatever respect I may have for the honesty and the sincerity of such or such individual, I have no absolute faith in any person."[30] Freethought is a philosophical viewpoint that holds opinions should be formed on the basis of logic, reason, and empiricism, rather than authority, tradition, or other dogmas.[31][32][33] The cognitive application of freethought is known as "freethinking", and practitioners of freethought are known as "freethinkers".[34] After World War II there was a strong sense of anti-authoritarianism based on anti-fascism in Europe. This was attributed to the active resistance from occupation and to fears arising from the development of superpowers. Anti-authoritarianism also became associated with countercultural and bohemian movements such as the Beat Generation in the 1950s,[35] the hippies in the 1960s[36] and punks in the 1970s.
Notes
[1] Baars, J. & Scheepers, P. (1993). "Theoretical and methodological foundations of the authoritarian personality". Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences, 29, pp. 345-353. [2] Adorno, T. W., Frenkel-Brunswik, E., Levinson, D.J., Sanford, R. N. (1950). The Authoritarian Personality. Norton: NY. [3] "authoritarianism" at the [[Encyclopedia Britannica (http:/ / www. britannica. com/ EBchecked/ topic/ 44640/ authoritarianism)]] [4] "Authoritarianism" at the free dictionary (http:/ / www. thefreedictionary. com/ authoritarianism) [5] Richard Shorten, Modernism and Totalitarianism: Rethinking the Intellectual Sources of Nazism and Stalinism, 1945 to the Present (Palgrave Macmillan, 2012), p. 256 (note 67). [6] Gretchen Casper, Fragile Democracies: The Legacies of Authoritarian Rule, p. 40-50 (citing Linz 1964). [7] Todd Landman, Studying Human Rights (Routledge, 2003), p. 71 (citing Linz 1964 and others). [8] Mark J. Gasiorowski, The Political Regimes Project, in On Measuring Democracy: Its Consequences and Concomitants (ed. Alex Inketes), 2006, p. 110-11. [9] Theodore M. Vesta, Ethiopia: A Post-Cold War African State (http:/ / books. google. com/ books?id=XWXtXOl56KkC& c). Greenwood, 1999, p. 17. [10] http:/ / articles. washingtonpost. com/ 2013-06-03/ opinions/ 39715196_1_protesters-akp-protect-journalists [11] http:/ / www. todayszaman. com/ newsDetail_getNewsById. action?newsId=317450& columnistId=0
Authoritarianism
[12] Daniel Lederman, Normal Loaza, Rodrigo Res Soares, (November 2001). "Accountability and Corruption: Political Institutions Matter" (http:/ / papers. ssrn. com/ sol3/ papers. cfm?abstract_id=632777). World Bank Policy Research Working Paper No. 2708. SSRN 632777. Retrieved February 19, 2006. [13] http:/ / www. nytimes. com/ 2013/ 04/ 24/ world/ asia/ vietnam-clings-to-single-party-rule-as-dissent-rises-sharply. html?pagewanted=all& _r=0 [14] http:/ / www. nytimes. com/ 2012/ 11/ 17/ world/ asia/ in-cambodia-panetta-reaffirms-ties-with-authoritarian-government. html [15] Ariana Eunjung Cha, China, Cuba, Other Authoritarian Regimes Censor News From Iran (http:/ / www. washingtonpost. com/ wp-dyn/ content/ article/ 2009/ 06/ 26/ AR2009062604343. html) (June 27, 2009), Washington Post; Shanthi Kalathil and Taylor Boas, Internet and State Control in Authoritarian Regimes: China, Cuba, and the Counterrevolution (http:/ / carnegieendowment. org/ 2001/ 07/ 16/ internet-and-state-control-in-authoritarian-regimes-china-cuba-and-counterrevolution/ 1ic4) (July 16, 2001), Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. [16] Toby Craig Jones, Desert Kingdom: How Oil and Water Forged Modern Saudi Arabia (2011), Harvard University Press, pp. 5, 14-15; Kira D. Baiasu, Sustaining Authoritarian Rule (http:/ / groups. northwestern. edu/ njia/ ?p=85), Fall 2009, Volume 10, Issue 1 (September 30, 2009), Northwestern Journal of International Affairs. [17] Nebil Husayn, Authoritarianism in Bahrain: Motives, Methods and Challenges (http:/ / scholar. princeton. edu/ nhussen/ files/ Bahrain AMSS - Abstract - Outline. pdf), AMSS 41st Annual Conference (September 29, 2012); Parliamentary Elections and Authoritarian Rule in Bahrain (http:/ / cddrl. stanford. edu/ events/ parliamentary_elections_and_authoritarian_rule_in_bahrain) (January 13, 2011), Stanford University Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies. [18] Thomas Carothers, Q&A: Is Burma Democratizing? (http:/ / carnegieendowment. org/ 2012/ 04/ 02/ is-burma-democratizing/ a62j) (April 2, 2012), Carnegie Endowment for International Peace; President Discusses Burma/Myanmar in Transition at World Affairs Council Sacramento (http:/ / asiafoundation. org/ news/ 2013/ 04/ asia-foundation-president-discusses-burmamyanmar-in-transition-at-world-affairs-council-sacramento/ ) (April 3, 2013), Asia Foundation; Louise Arbour, In Myanmar, Sanctions Have Had Their Day (http:/ / www. nytimes. com/ 2012/ 03/ 06/ opinion/ in-myanmar-sanctions-have-had-their-day. html) (March 5, 2012), New York Times. [19] Hyug Baeg Im, The Rise of Bureaucratic Authoritarianism in South Korea (http:/ / journals. cambridge. org/ action/ displayAbstract;jsessionid=44F94BAE852A3B2B3E02069091C16DFC. journals?fromPage=online& aid=7616752), World Politics Vol. 39, Issue 2 (January 1987), pp. 231-257 [20] The Other R.O.K.: Memories of Authoritarianism in Democratic South Korea (http:/ / www. wilsoncenter. org/ event/ the-other-rok-memories-authoritarianism-democratic-south-korea) (October 11, 2011), Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars; Sangmook Lee, Democratic Transition and the Consolidation of Democracy in South Korea (http:/ / www. tfd. org. tw/ docs/ dj0301_new/ 099-126-Sangmook Lee. pdf), July 2007, Taiwan Journal of Democracy, Volume 3, No.1, pp. 99-125. [21] Richard Gunther, The Spanish Model Revisited, in The Politics and Memory of Democratic Transition: The Spanish Model, (eds. Diego Muro & Gregorio Alonso), Taylor & Francis 2010, p. 19. [22] Shao-chuan Leng and Cheng-yi Lin, Political Change on Taiwan: Transition to Democracy? (http:/ / www. jstor. org/ discover/ 10. 2307/ 655592?uid=3739936& uid=2129& uid=2& uid=70& uid=4& uid=3739256& sid=21102034016793), The China Quarterly, No. 136, Special Issue: Greater China (December 1993), pp. 805-839; Shirley A. Kan, Congressional Research Service, Democratic Reforms in Taiwan: Issues for Congress (http:/ / www. fas. org/ sgp/ crs/ row/ R41263. pdf) (May 26, 2010); Taiwan's Electoral Politics and Democratic Transition: Riding the Third Wave (1996), eds. Charles Chi-Hsiang Chang & Hung-Mao Tien; Edward S. Steinfeld, Playing Our Game:Why China's Rise Doesn't Threaten the West (2010), Oxford University Press, pp. 217-222. [23] Gaddafi's 41-Year-Long Rule (http:/ / www. washingtonpost. com/ wp-srv/ special/ world/ gaddafis-rule-timeline/ ), Washington Post; Martin Asser, The Muammar Gaddafi Story (http:/ / www. bbc. co. uk/ news/ world-africa-12688033) (October 21, 2011), BBC News; Alistair Dawber, One Libyan in three wants return to authoritarian rule (http:/ / www. independent. co. uk/ news/ world/ africa/ one-libyan-in-three-wants-return-to-authoritarian-rule-6950631. html) (February 16, 2012), Independent. [24] Maye Kassem, Egyptian Politics: The Dynamics of Authoritarian Rule (2004); Andrea M. Perkins, Mubarak's Machine: The Durability of the Authoritarian Regime in Egypt (http:/ / scholarcommons. usf. edu/ cgi/ viewcontent. cgi?article=2736& context=etd) (M.A. thesis, April 8, 2010, University of South Florida). [25] James M. Malloy, Authoritarianism and Corporatism in Latin America: The Modal Pattern, in Democracy in Latin America: Patterns and Cycles (ed. Roderic A. Camp), p. 122; Thomas E. Skidmore, The Political Economy of Policy-making in Authoritarian Brazil, 1967-70, in Generals in Retreat: The Crisis of Military Rule in Latin America (1985), eds. Philip J. O'Brien & Paul A. Cammack, Manchester University Press. [26] Todd L. Edwards, Argentina: A Global Studies Handbook (2008), pp. 45-46; Steven E. Sanderson, The Politics of Trade in Latin American Development (1992), Stanford University Press, p. 133; William C. Smith, Reflections on the Political Economy of Authoritarian Rule and Capitalist Reorganization in Contemporary Argentina, in Generals in Retreat: The Crisis of Military Rule in Latin America (1985), eds. Philip J. O'Brien & Paul A. Cammack, Manchester University Press. [27] Guillermo A. O'Donnell, Bureaucratic Authoritarianism: Argentina, 1966-1973, in Comparative Perspective (University of California Press, 1988); James M. Malloy, Authoritarianism and Corporatism in Latin America: The Modal Pattern, in Democracy in Latin America: Patterns and Cycles (1996; ed. Roderic A. Camp), p. 122; Howard J. Wiards, Corporatism and Comparative Politics: The Other Great "ism" (1997), pp. 113-14.
Authoritarianism
[28] Steven E. Sanderson, The Politics of Trade in Latin American Development (1992), Stanford University Press, p. 133; Carlos Huneeus, Political Mass Mobilization Against Authoritarian Rule: Pinochet's Chile, 1983-88, in Civil Resistance and Power Politics:The Experience of Non-violent Action from Gandhi to the Present (2009), Oxford University Press (eds. Adam Roberts & Timothy Garton Ash). [29] Treptow, Kurt W. Vlad III Dracula and his Relations with the Boyars and the Church. East European Monographs, No. DXIX. Columbia University Press: New York, 1998. p.2740 [30] "What is Authority?" by Mikhail Bakunin (http:/ / www. marxists. org/ reference/ archive/ bakunin/ works/ various/ authrty. htm) [31] http:/ / www. merriam-webster. com/ dictionary/ freethinker [32] http:/ / dictionary. reference. com/ browse/ free+ thought [33] http:/ / www. iheu. org/ glossary/ 12#letterf [34] http:/ / archive. is/ 20120804135530/ http:/ / www. ffrf. org/ nontracts/ freethinker. php [35] "The American Novel" at [[Public Broadcasting Service|PBS (http:/ / www. pbs. org/ wnet/ americannovel/ timeline/ beatgeneration. html)] website] [36] "The way of the hippie is antithetical to all repressive hierarchical power structures since they are adverse to the hippie goals of peace, love and freedom... Hippies don't impose their beliefs on others. Instead, hippies seek to change the world through reason and by living what they believe." [37] Gender Inequality and Gender Differences in Authoritarianism(2012) Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 38 (10) ,pp.1301-1315.
Works cited
Juan J. Linz, An Authoritarian Regime: The Case of Spain, in Cleavages, Ideologies and Party Systems (eds. Eric Allard & Yrjo Littunen) (Helsinki: Academic, 1964)</ref>
External links
Not The End Of History? Democracy vs Authoritarianism Debated (http://www.theoligarch.com/ democracy-authoritarianism.htm) Growth of Authoritarianism in America (http://the-wawg-blog.org/?cat=23) Are we entering the age of the autocrat? (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/ 22/AR2008082202395_pf.html) Francis Fukuyama, Washington Post, August 24, 2008
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