Democracy and Authoritarian regimes have been at odds with each other as long as one can remember. Authoritarian regimes have been the oldest and most common form of government, while the world’s oldest democracy began in Athens, which was around 40 B.C. The effects of authoritarian regimes and transitional authoritarian re-gimes have been a very interesting and telling read, with many subtle details that one would not expect. I have come into this research project with the main question: What are the effects of civil society under an authoritarian government versus a democratic government and how is an authoritarian civil society affected if it transitions into de-mocracy? Upon reading and researching to create my hypothesis, I felt that an authori-tarian government constitutes a weaker civil society underneath them, versus a demo-cratic government’s stronger, more able civil society because authoritarian governments govern in such a manner that repress protests against the government.
Literature Review
Upon analyzing different literatures when developing my research paper and thoughts, I looked at regimes all around the world, such as Russia, North Korea, China, Iran, and more. Many of these countries provided a great deal of telling in-sight and tendencies that each country had. Upon the first in my research was in-volving the very center and the base of my research paper: civil societies, and how they are affected.
How to deal with the Past by Anatoly & Stanley G. Payne
Civil societies are the heart and root of everything socially and governmen-tally related, there would be no government without its people, there would be no one to rule if there were no subjects, and as such, there would be no society. This significa...
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...n Fred I. Greenstein and Nel-son Polsby, eds., Handbook of Political Science, vol. 3 (Reading, Mass.: Addison - Wesley, 1975)
11. Civil Society and the Authoritarian State: Cooperation, Contestation and Discourse by Lewis, David. Journal for Cultural Research April 2010, Vol. 14 Issue 2, pp. 197 - 220
12. Transition to Democracy and Political Culture: An Analysis of the Conflict Between Civil and Political Society in Post - Authoritarian Brazil by: Avritzer, Leonardo. Con-stellations: An international Journal of Critical & Democratic Theory. Oct. 1995, Vol. 2 Issue 2, pg. 242
13. Civil Society and the Legacies of Dictatorship by Michael Bernhard and Ekrem Kara-koc, World Politics, Vol. 59, No. 4 (Jul. 2007) pp. 539 – 567
14. Shirah, R. (2012). Authoritarian Backsliding in New Democracies. Conference Pa-pers -- American Political Science Association, 1-23.
During the 20th century, the rise of communism sparked rage in people throughout the world. More towards the end of the 1900's the fall of communism and dictatorships was just the beginning of what would eventually be a large democratic change for several countries. 1989: Democratic Revolutions at the Cold War's End, speaks about the change brought to several different countries from the 1980's-1990's and plans to show "the global transformations that marked the end of the cold war and shaped the era in which we live"(Pg V). During the cold war, communist had power and control over a large area and spread communism throughout several continents. This book specifically hits on six different studies of where communism and dictatorship affected these areas and what they did to stop it. Poland, Philippines, Chile, South Africa, Ukraine, and China throughout the end of the 20th century created revolutionary movements which brought them all one step closer to freeing themselves and creating democratic change.
1. Janda, Kenneth. The Challenge of Democracy. Houghton Mifflin Co. Boston, MA. 1999. (Chapter 3 & 4).
...pp, "Repression and Revolutionary Action: East Germany in 1989," Rationality and Society, Vol. 6, No. 1, 1994, pp. 101–138; M. Taylor, Anarchy and Cooperation, London, 1976; M. Taylor [ed.], Rationality and Revolution, Cambridge, 1988.
Filh, Alfredo Saad. "Neoliberalism, Democracy, and Development Policy in Brazil." DEVELOPMENT AND SOCIETY June 2010: 1-28.
New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 2004. Romance, Joseph. Political Science 6 class lectures. Drew University, Summer 2004.
Submission 1: Would you classify the rule of the ‘dictator’ you have researched as a true dictatorship or is it better regarded as a benevolent dictatorship?
The main topic in the book is life in a dictatorship government, are still a crude reality around the globe. Dictators take control and are thrown out too. When this book was published, some people thought it was promoting totalitarian governments; but the truth is that this original novel
In comparing the average citizen in a democratic nation, say the United States, to that of a non-democratic nation, for instance Egypt, it will be found that the citizen in the democratic nation is generally better off – free of persecution, free from fear of the authorities, and free to express his opinions on governmental matters. And while national conflicts occur everywhere, incidents like violent revolts have shown to be more prevalent in nations where citizens are not allowed to choose who governs them. It is slightly paradoxical that democracy, so inherently flawed in theory, can lead to such successful outcomes in practice. The question, then, becomes: “If democracy has so many weaknesses, why does it work?”
Zakaria, F. (2007). The Future of Freedom: Illiberal Democracy at Home and Abroad (Revised Edition). New York: W. W. Norton.
Jones, W. T. Masters of Political Thought. Ed. Edward, McChesner, and Sait. Vol. 2. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1947.
Alexander Wendt, “Anarchy is what states make of it: The social construction of power politics,” International Organization, Vol. 46, No. 2 (spring, 1992), pp. 391-425
In addition to this, the Authoritarian governments can be greedy and self-centered. Authoritarianism also limits people's freedom of their choice and people aren’t allowed to protest the current laws with the hope of changing them. Times and situations can change, and the authoritarian governments aren’t likely to change with them. Authoritarianism doesn’t take into account the will of most people, it usually only is for the few who are have power. These types of governments are hard towards their peopel and limit the free thought and new ideas. Civil liberties are also limited under authoritarianism. Civil liberties are the rights that are afforded to all of the citizens. Authoritarianism is usually based on authority and tradition, not on knowledge of the logic and reason. Power is taken away from the people and majority does not decide things. Authoritarianism assumes that certain people know better than others, however, if all people are supposed to be created equal this is not the case. With authoritarianism, there is often no limit to how long a person is in power, unlike democracy in America where there are term limits. Change of authority in authoritarianism is often not a peaceful process. Changing power can requires taking it by force by a rebellion of people instead of a peaceful change that we usually have in America today. Authoritarianism can
Pinheiro P. S., 2002, The Paradox of Democracy in Brazil vol. III, issue 1, University of Sao Paulo
It should be understood that the people’s consent runs to the very core of a government being able to rule over them. Essentially, this is to show that no form government can be in power if the particular people haven’t agreed to it. The common exception however, is in the case of tyranny and dictatorial rule, where citizens are subdued to obey as commanded, which in most cases lead to revolutions. Evidently, democracy is the best way through which a people can be governed, owing to the fact that it gives them a chance and a voice in the larger government and undertakings of the country as a whole (Ndou, 2004, p 18). Historical data can attest to this fact, as there have been numerous rebellions against dictatorial heads, all in such for democracy.
Throughout history different types of instrumental regimes have been in tact so civilizations remained structured and cohesive. As humanity advanced, governments obligingly followed. Although there have been hiccups from the ancient times to modern day, one type of government, democracy, has proven to be the most effective and adaptive. As quoted by Winston Churchill, democracy is the best form of government that has existed. This is true because the heart of democracy is reliant, dependent, and thrives on the populaces desires; which gives them the ability for maintaining the right to choose, over time it adjusts and fixes itself to engulf the prominent troubling issues, and people have the right of electing the person they deem appropriate and can denounce them once they no longer appease them. In this paper, the benefits of democracy are outlined, compared to autocratic communism, and finally the flaws of democracy are illustrated.