History has known far more authoritarian regimes than any other form of government. Authoritarianism is a form of non-democratic rule defined by state power being centralized in a single person or a small group of people. Unlike democracies, these individuals in power are not dependent on the people for power. Thus, under authoritarianism, state leaders have little accountability to the public and there is little individual freedom. Additionally, authoritarian regimes are not bound by a constitution that might limit their power. Such democratic liberties such as the right to assembly, freedom of speech, and freedom of the press are highly controlled or non-existent. State policies are designed to maintain the power status quo in favor of the ruling group and perceived threats are marginalized or, in some cases, extinguished.
Authoritarianism is more likely to exist in countries that have not yet experienced a high degree of modernization. This is because, without modernization, many of the fundamental institutions thought to be required for democracy are not yet thoroughly developed. These institutions include intellectuals, entrepreneurs, and the emergence of an economic middle class. In fact, it is highly correlated that a middle class is a vital requirement for the existence of democracy. However, modernization by itself does not always mean that the end result will be a democracy. For instance, if modernization occurs in some urban areas but lags behind in the rural areas it could be destabilizing to democratic institutions. Poverty is also strongly linked to authoritarianism although it alone is not a correlation.
Authoritarian regimes would not survive if there was not at least a segment of the population that supp...
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...ain control of the country’s wealth and resources. Authoritarian regimes use coercion and limit individual freedom to maintain their power. They are also able to keep a middle class from emerging by hindering economic development. In these regimes, when the resources run out they are no longer able to buy off the segments of the population, the elites, necessary to maintain that power. Resource rich, countries are able to sustain authoritarian regimes longer than those without. However, as evidenced by the eventual demise of the Soviet Union, even the most powerful of authoritarian regimes are vulnerable when the resources start to dry up.
Works Cited
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and Altemeyer’s approaches to authoritarianism share many similarities, such as the more descriptive approach to their work than explanatory route, where neither clearly identify the source of authoritarianism. (Jones, 2002. Cited in The Open University, 2015, p50)
In addition, they are also hostile and punitive in their attitudes towards people who do not adhere to them. Authoritarian right’s members want society and social interactions develop in ways that increase uniformity. Therefore, they support social control and coercion. Moreover, they use the group authority to place constraints on the behaviors of people. The Authoritarian right’s members are characterized by obedience to authority and punish towards
With the dawn of civilization soon thereafter followed the creation of authoritarian and totalitarian establishments. The history of man is inundated with instances of leaders rising to power over certain groups of people and through various means gaining formidable control to be used for good, evil, or an ambiguous mixture of both. However, it is an undeniable fact that once unchecked power is acquired, tyranny often ensues, and thus a dictatorial regime is born. Over the centuries, governmental establishments have risen and fallen, but as history and civilization progress, so does the potential for a larger and more powerful domination. The development of differing and contrasting theologies and structural philosophies leads not only to conflict, but perhaps more prominently to unification under one rule with a common belief, especially when that unifying belief provides a promising sense of belonging and structure to a weak society. This is what led to the rise of two of the most domineering totalitarian governments in history: Stalin’s Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) and Hitler’s Nazi Germany, or the Third Reich.
The Dictator’s Learning Curve: Inside the Global Battle for Democracy by William Dobson presents a thorough analysis of the continuous struggle in the modern world of dictatorship. For this research, Dobson travelled to a lot of countries with dictatorial government, with the intention of showing the rest of the world how modern dictatorship maintain its power and deal with any opponents who threaten its regime. In the beginning of the book, Dobson mentions that it is hard for dictators to keep their crimes away from the world. Dobson also talks about how communication media first affected dictatorship. In 1974, the Portuguese military played a song that signaled for a military coup, which caused the nation to exile its own dictator the following day (3). In essence, Dobson proposes that throughout the years the internet and social media have greatly hurt dictatorial regime’s power. However, Dobson also claims that dictators have learned their mistakes over the years and somehow managed to increase their power on their people, hence meaning of the dictator’s learning curve.
been seen through nations seeking to control the populous, such as in Germany during World
Many countries have decided against having a totalitarian government system, but there still are countries that continue with running their country with authoritarianism. The Middle East persists on having an authoritarianism style government over having a democracy. Theories that prove to be true to Middle Eastern people of how a totalitarian government is better relate to economics, religion, and international involvement. People living in the Middle East want to avoid having political liberation because that can lead to a consistent and stable democratic government. Another reason keeping them from changing is that since their countries aren’t struggling economically, the citizens don’t see it necessary to elect new leaders. The countries in the Middle East region decide to continue with authoritarianism because the fear and pain is greater than the feeling of freedom.
Altemeyer (1988, 1996, 1998) replicated Adorno et al.’s (1950) study and examined whether the components of authoritarianism correlated with right- wing political views. Although not all of the components of authoritarianism correlated significantly...
The attitudes of the people who will allow themselves to be dominated is by far worse than a domineering government.
The world I’m describing is a dystopia. The world dystopia goes back to the roots of the greek word dys, meaning bad, and topos, meaning world. Citizens in an dystopian society never question their government. they are either brainwashed or too scared to speak up against the injustices being performed in their society. Dystopian societies can be identified by identifying characteristics of its government by using examples from 1984 by George Orwell and Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. These characteristics and systems of control are social restrictions, government controlled groups, use of propaganda and the altering history for government belief.
Imagine yourself in a world where you are constantly having to fear not being able to ever be free from this cage that you've been wanting to get out of for so long. Now imagine that suddenly just being your real life and not just a world that was just imagined, it’s almost too unbearable to think about but this happens. The book “Before We Were Free is a good example of that. The books takes place in the Dominican Republic in the 20th century, when the Dictator at the time was Rafael Trujillo, or in other words El Jefe. Dictators are a ruler with total power over a country, typically one who has obtained power by force. Till this day there are countries that are still ruled by dictators, for example, North Korea However, having a dictator
state controls all aspects of people’s lives. Oceania’s entire population is under totalitarian rule and is
In modern history, there have been some governments, which have successfully, and others unsuccessfully carried out a totalitarian state. A totalitarian state is one in which a single ideology is existent and addresses all aspects of life and outlines means to attain the final goal, government is ran by a single mass party through which the people are mobilized to muster energy and support. In a totalitarian state, the party leadership maintains monopoly control over the governmental system, which includes the police, military,
A dictator is an authoritarian, often totalitarian ruler who assumes sole power over his state. They have an extraordinary amount of personal power, especially the power to make laws without effective restraint by a legislative assembly. Dictators need many essential elements to succeed. There are three elements that the dictator, Napoleon has in the society in Animal Farm. The three essential elements that a dictator needs to succeed are loyal supporters, followers who are ignorant, and a scapegoat.
In his book International Politics on the World Stage John T. Rourke (2008) states that governments range from the strict authoritarian at one end of the spectrum to a completely unfettered democracy at the other end (p. 78). His definition of an authoritarian style government is a “political system that allows little or no participation in decision making by individuals and groups outside the upper reaches of the government” (p. G-1). Those of us who live in a country that has a democratic government may find it difficult to understand why people who live in countries with authoritarian governments do not revolt and change their system of government, but in fact a truly democratic system of government is a relatively new concept in the age of man.
authoritarian state, which later failed into developing to either a strong authoritarian or a strong