Conceptualization of “domesticated opposition”
The concept of “domesticated opposition” is used by scholars to describe opposition parties that are loyal rather than competitors and that have complied with the government’s game of restricted pluralism.
Also dubbed as “toothless”, domesticated opposition hardly challenge the regime’s semi-authoritarianism and are not part of the decision making process. They have come to depend on the regime’s consent to secure their minimal political gains and to protect the narrow political space in which they are operating (Shehata, 2009). In other words, rather than opposing the regime’s policies, they made a policy of pleasing the government into accepting their existence.
Will use the same general concept in referring to the secular legal opposition in Egypt during Mubarak’s era.
Operationalization of “domesticated opposition”:
Will measure it by how much the legal secular opposition in Egypt during Mubarak’s era was: weak, loyal, coopted, coerced and permit/agree to state clientalism.
Conceptualization of Autocracy:
According to Palgrave MacMillan dictionary of political thought, Autocracy literally means “self-rule”. “It is the rule by an agent who holds all power himself, and who exercises that power in an arbitrary manner.”
The presence of constitution and laws which limit his power can be revoked or disregard by him at will as there is no independent mechanism for enforcing them.
The principal feature is that the ruler may affect each of his subjects at any time in any way that he pleases, and in a manner that admits of no redress. “Autocracy should therefore be seen as the perversion of absolutism, in which power is not only absolute but also arbitrary,” according to MacMillan dic...
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...he boundaries of judicial legality are vague. Opposition movements may well be illegal in that they are not granted formal judicial authorization strategy of containment but are informally tolerated and recognized such as the Muslim Brotherhood. On the other hand, opposition groups might be legally recognized but face other forms of statist containment, ranging from the limited “freezing” of the respective group to more coercive mechanisms, such as the incarceration of its leaders and confiscation of material and financial assets.
Political parties have also become a target of the inconsistent application of the law; the socialist-turned-Islamist Socialist Labor Party (SLP) and the Liberal Party (LP) have received “freeze” orders; but the parties were never practically dissolved and their representatives found ways to participate actively in public life.
So we have looked at various different Political Ideologies that have developed in modern times however not one of them proves itself to be superior to another. They all have certain strength’s and weakness to be taken advantage of by all governments. It is best to understand that different political ideologies serve different purposes, and that governments must remain ideologically flexible depending on current national conditions.
Although initially forming around the nucleus of two distinct and different ideologies, long years of bloody conflict have served to significantly erode the distinctions between the parties. The Conservatives and the Liberals are more like warring factions or clans than any parties with firmly established and radically different ideologies. Both tend to be repressive, both are corrupt, and bot...
...ection against the government. Others believe that courts must be more active and open to expand the ideas of liberty even if it is required to strike down the majoritarian law in order to protect the minority group from government interference.
... can take power away from regimes successfully, but there are very few ways a regime and even a violent campaign can take power away a nonviolent movement effectively and without failing in the long term.
Tom Cornwall (2004), “Party Discipline: Can’t live with it, can’t live without it” retrieved February 27th, 2011 from http://www.citizensassembly.bc.ca/resources/submissions/csharman-10_0408181103-732.pdf
Karp, J. A., and S. A. Banducci. "Party Mobilization and Political Participation in New and Old Democracies." Party Politics 13.2 (2007): 217-34. Web. 26 May 2014.
When individuals do not take responsibility in government actions, it can lead to an illiberal nation. Additionally, when governments do not reflect the interests of their citizens, they can risk forming into an illiberal nation, therefore, they should be removed from power. Illiberalism lacks the underlying commitment to core liberal ideas such as limited and accountable government, and the rule of law. It also lacks the rules, procedures, practices, and habits that make democracy come to life. Illiberal democracy is a form of democracy, in which leaders use the appearance of democracy to entrap and oppress their people, rather than liberate them. Instead of protecting popular liberties, illiberal regimes suppress human rights, use intimidation
Totalitarianism is the term that is used to describe the political system where the government holds total authority ove...
a government in which all power belongs to one person : the rule or authority of a tyrant
An authoritarian society is one in which those with power “ [favor and enforce] strict obedience to authority…at the expense of personal freedom” (Abate). Authoritarian societies have strict rules and severe consequences if those rules are broken. However, unlike an authoritative society, an authoritarian society imposes rules without rationale or providing reasons for why these rules are being implemented, “‘we have rules in this house. Your father will not be disobeyed’” (Sater 43). [I’m going to try to find more information on this.]
Political parties are the link between general society and the representative machinery of our government. In order for an effective democracy to be in place, these political parties must be continually operative in the functions that they carry out. They are vehicles in which groups of people as well as individuals work together to secure political power, and to exercise that...
Levitsky, Steven, and Lucan Way. "International Linkage and Democratization." Journal of Democracy 16.3 (2005): 20-34. Print.
Rourke (2008) points out that the form of government most common throughout the history of man was authoritarian; leaders were an individual or group of people who exercised control. The people these leaders ruled had little opportunity to contribute to t...
Autocratic leaders possess total control of all of the decisions and rarely take input from their employees. It is a totalitarian form of management. In the past autocratic leadership was
...d of liberal democracy, e.g. Islamic fundamentalism). For example, radical Islamism in Iran initially spearheaded by Ayatollah Khoemeni