Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Authoritarianism
Political system in which a small group of individuals exercises power over the state without being constitutionally responsible to the public Public does not play a significant role selecting or removing leaders from office
Authoritarianism
Political leaders:
Develop policies that dictate to the people
Built around the restriction of individual freedom Eliminate peoples right to choose
Leaders
Restrict peoples
Liberties Freedom of speech Freedom of assembly
Authoritarianism
Communism
Limit individual freedom in order to produce greater social equality
Others:
Driven by those in power the Castro Regime
Totalitarianism
Practiced by authoritarian regimes Seek to control and transform all aspects of the state society, and economy Use violence as a tool for remaking institutions Strong ideological goal Risen rarely
Happen when those in power profess a radical or reactionary political attitude
Totalitarianism
Past governments (communist)
Joseph Stalin China during the cultural revolution o f 19301950s Cambodia: Khumer Rouge in the 1970s
Nazi Germany (except economically) Italy during WWII (never quite made it)
Totalitarianism
North Korea
Dominate by totalist ideology
backed by violence Widespread fear Absence of small personal freedoms
Rousseau
Emerged from desire for individuals to form society Subdivision of natural state
No middle class
Poverty and inequality is great Author. Regime develops: to defend economic wealth of a few Author. Regime: forcibly distributes wealth among the majority
Both share the belief that wealth and its distribution are key to understanding the emergence and persistence of authoritarian rule
Death Squads: police and military troops targeted individuals suspected of harboring political views
Authoritarianism
Days numbered? All societies be democratic? Inequality clash with increased freedom? Will new secular or religious vision reject democracy? Do we enjoy a Brief aberration of authoritarian rule?