Lecture 2: Authoritarian Regimes PDF

Preview

Summary

PL10712 Comparative Politics 11/10/2021 Authoritarian Regimes  Autocracy Autocracy – a system of government by one person with absolute power Oligarchic – a system of government in which power rests with a small number of people Authoritarian regimes may be either autocratic or oligarchic in nature...

Description

PL10712 Comparative Politics 11/10/2021 Authoritarian Regimes 

Autocracy

Autocracy – a system of government by one person with absolute power Oligarchic – a system of government in which power rests with a small number of people Authoritarian regimes may be either autocratic or oligarchic in nature. Democratic backsliding globally – Increasing number of leaders seem to be encroaching on trying to take power. More attempts to control institutions. Causes of this trend: - 2008 global financial crisis. -

War on terror – excuse to pass legislation to use against other groups

-

Rising nationalism – linked to financial crisis

-

Populism – use policies to get elected then change the political system

-

Feeling of being left behind.

-

Alternative models to democracy – eg. China (economic development, authoritarian methods get things done faster) & Vietnam

Example: India The Indian President, Ram Nath Kovind, is increasing Hindu nationalism, specifically against Muslims. The weak parliament makes it easier for his party to take control without opposition. Indian government accused of attempting to "stifle critics in the media and academia" Freedom House downgraded India from 'free' to 'partly free' in 2021, citing their response to the Citizenship Amendment Act protests. 

Totalitarianism.

Totalitarianism – A political system that prohibits all opposition parties, outlaws individual opposition to the state and its claims, and exercises an extremely high degree of control over public and private life. Examples: Nazi Germany under Adolf Hitler, Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin Totalitarianism is different to authoritarianism. Totalitarianism is based on ideologies (eg. Communism, Marxism). Authoritarianism is based on staying in power, the leaders policies will change to whatever keeps them in power. What is totalitarianism?: - Encompassing Ideology. -

Single Party led by dominant leader.

-

Mobilisation of support for party leader.

-

State ownership of media.

-

Use of terror and violence.

-

Control of the economy.

Modern totalitarian regimes include China & North Korea – one leader under major party, control the media Example: Cambodia – Khmer Rouge regime General secretary Pol Pot was the leader of the Communist Party of Kampuchea. They won the civil war in 1975 against democrats. Sets up communist dictatorship copying Chinese great leap forward. Pol Pot forced people out of cities in the countryside and tried to build society based on an 11th Century ‘glorious’ age. About 3 million people killed in the Cambodian Genocide (25% of population). Vietnamese invasion in 1978 ends the regime. 

Hybrid-regimes/anocracies

Hybrid Regime - A mixed type of political regime that combine autocratic and democratic characteristics and can simultaneously hold political repressions and regular elections. Often created as a result of an incomplete transition from an authoritarian regime to a democratic one. Very vague idea – useful to explain states that aren’t authoritarian and aren’t democratic Case Study: Ivory Coast 1960 – Independence from France and ruled by Felix Houphouet-Boigny from 1960 to 1993 because he had won independence for ivory coast and other states. Chose to remain close to France. Achieved substantial growth and took many out of poverty. 1993 - Houphouet-Boigny dies and elections are held to stability continues. Henri Konan Bedie wins elections, however he was Houphouet-Boigny’s chosen successor so question the motives here. 1999 – Military coup as they felt excluded from power . 2000-2002: Unsteady peace between different groups. 2002-2003: Civil war between different factions. Laurent Gbagbo from Christian south and Alassane Ouattara from the Muslim north. 2003-2007: Various unity governments and breakdowns. 2010: New elections are held after 3 years of peace and Alassane Ouattara wins. There is arguments that he broke the constitution here – can only be elected twice consecutively but does a civil war term count. 2011: Gbagbo starts a new civil war to contest 2010 elections, but quickly loses support. 2015: Ouattara won Re-elections in 2015 and 2020. This shows that although a state has democratic characteristics, leaders/people can still manipulate this to stay in power i.e. using authoritarianism.



Authoritarian Regimes

Authoritarian – Refers to rule which is unaccountable and restrictive of personal liberty Authoritarian regimes are difficult to classify because they are not all the same. Been around of a long time. Have negative connotations – idea that they limit a society's progress because they impose limits Definitions Linz (1964:297): “political systems with limited, not responsible, political pluralism, without elaborate and guiding ideology, but with distinctive mentalities, without extensive nor intensive political mobilization, except at some points in their development, and in which a leader or occasionally a small group exercises power within formally ill-defined limits but actually quite predictable ones”. However, this was written a long time ago and times have changed. Authoritarian leaders want to remain in power but sometimes there are uncontrollable factors which mean they have to evolve – eg. Financial backer withdraws or demands free and fair elections. Causes of Authoritarian Regimes: Historical – one person/family/party have always ruled Institutional – One leader creates institutions to keep their family/party/chosen successor power Social/values Cultural Economic - eg. Democratisation literature says when people reach $20,000 (£14,496) per capita income, a state will become a democracy Geopolitical - eg. When Cold War ended, authoritarian regimes lost their sponsors so had discovered democracy Example: the Republic of Congo 1960 – Independence from France 1963-1977 – Various coups and counter coups occur but all governments align with the Eastern Block or North Korea, China, etc – Whoever pays more money.

1973 – Denis Sassou Nguesso comes to power in 1973 and aligns with the Soviet Union, happy to align with France and adopt socialist values if they were to offer more money 1991 – Soviet Union collapses. Sassou Nguesso needs money and is forced to hold free elections. Pascal Lissboua wins elections and rules until 1997. But Sassou Nguesso starts and wins a civil war and is supported by Angola. Since 1997 – Congo has had elections but Sassou Nguesso has won them all with 90% of the vote.

External Support Sometimes, countries demand/require external international support. Example: Rwanda Paul Kagame from Rwanda stopped the 1994 Rwandan genocide – Tutsi minority ethnic groups were slaughtered by armed militias for around 100 days. Civil war started by the Hutu-led government over the fear they would lose elections. Kagame claims that the West failed Rwanda as they were too busy focused on Bosnia and Herzegovina. He has used this to help maintain financial support from countries such as UK and the US. Single party systems Single party systems – A type of unitary state in which only one political party has the right to form the government, usually based on the existing constitution. Eg. Communist party of the Soviet Union, China Communist Party, People's Front for Democracy and Justice in Eritrea (not Communist but closely aligned with China) Example: Vietnam The Vietnamese Communist Party came to power in 1976 after winning the Vietnam war. They maintain legitimacy on four fronts: 1. Victory in 1975. 2. Ho Chi Minh’s charisma. 3. Performance legitimacy – economic modernisation (Doi Moi). 4. Rule-of-law and constitutionalism. Military regimes. Military regimes – an authoritarian government controlled by a military and its political designees Currently these still exist in Chad, Myanmar, Sudan But they tend to be historic: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Egypt, Lithuania, Niger, Zaire (DRC). Example: Myanmar 1948 - Independence under Ang San, but army dominates. Civilian government from 1948-1962 (with army in the shadows). 1962 - General Ne Win took power in military coup and took away idea of democracy. Generally relied on his psychic to dictate policies. Army hid behind a revolutionary council and support the Burmese Road to Socialism. 1990s – Soviet Union collapses and money to Myanmar dries up. Military hold free elections to try regain power, but they lose and use repression to hold power. 2011 – With a new Chinese financial backer, Myanmar opens up and brought democracy, but the army made sure they retain 25% power and control of certain institutions. 2021 coup brings military back to power after annulling election that the National League for Democracy won by a landslide. Monarchial Authoritarian regimes. A form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state for life or until abdication. Historically, Louis 14th said ‘I am the state’. Example: Saudi Arabia Kingdom of Saudi Arabia formed in 1932. Close links between the monarch and the religious authorities. Control of Mecca and Medina gives legitimacy.

Use of oil wealth to buy off populace (Similar tactics used in other Gulf states)

16/10/2021 Authoritarian Regimes 

Modern authoritarianism

Authoritarianism after the cold war After the cold war, political institutions actually start developing because Soviet Union rule was no longer limiting society. Although, there were many parliaments and judiciaries around before. Elections began to be held, although they’re likely to be manipulated so leader will likely never lose. No superpower rivalries (Soviet Union V the US) Example: Philippines Following the collapse of communism in Asia, the US stopped funding Ferdinand Marcos’, the President of the Philippines, regime – causing it to collape protest. Freedom House determines that there are still a large number of ‘not free’ regimes.

Dominant Party Regimes Dominant party systems – A political occurrence when a single political party continuously dominates election results over running opposition groups or parties This is the main type of authoritarian regime right now. Eg. Angola, Equatorial Guinea, Nicaragua, Rwanda. One dominant party but still have a systemic opposition as elections are manipulated. Any ruling party staying in power for more than one consecutive term may be considered a dominant party. Rewrite of Linz 1964 definition for modern authoritarian regimes: Glasius et al (2018: 7) argue that authoritarian regimes do not have free and fair elections and violate “freedom of expression, access to information and freedom of association.” Modern authoritarian regimes less likely to use oppression Example: Singapore – People’s Action Party Tactics used to manipulate government: Re-draw constituency boundaries if not enough people voting, Increasing/decreasing the number of non-constituency seats, Placing unelected people in parliament, Limits resources going to non-PAP supporting constituencies.



Types of authoritarianism

Competitive:

Electoral:

Elections are held and the regime can potentially lose – although very little chance

Elections occur only to legitimise the regime.

Opposition that isn’t controlled by the state

Opposition is chosen– usually someone really abhorrent, a family member or someone paid to

Examples: Albania, Armenia, Croatia, Ghana, Haiti, Kenya, Malaysia, Mexico, Pakistan, Venezuela, Zambia.

run against Examples: Most of Africa, the Middle East, the post-Soviet space, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam.

When Authoritarian leaders lose power, it is usually final – most will do anything to stay there. When Democratic leaders loser power, they usually stay involved somehow – as a member of parliament or possibly can be re-elected. Authoritarian leaders rule tends to end violently – eg. Suddam Hussain was found hiding in a well and sentenced to death by hanging after being convicted of crimes against humanity Very rare for an autocrat to pass away – António de Oliveira Salazar was Prime Minister of Portugal and diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 1968 but allowed to remain head of state, and 2nd of state ran the country. 

Authoritarian Evolution

Authoritarian governments have had to develop the best practices to continue survival. These include:  Relying less on oppression - Three pillars  Modernisation.  Bolstering/promotion.  Models for other countries to copy  Learning from each other and democracies  Attempting to change international organisations. Authoritarian regimes often pretend to be democratic, while still maintaining strict leadership, so it makes it harder to accuse them. Examples of this include: legalising nongovernmental organisations, holding elections (even though they are manipulated), paying public relations firms to sell a positive image of their government domestically and overseas. Three Pillars of Stability in Authoritarian regimes 1. Repression – Subduing someone with force. Costly and ineffective for longevity 2. Legitimacy – find a way for public to actually support them eg. Saudi regime get support by controlling Mecca and Medina. 3. Co-optation – the capacity to tie strategically-relevant actors to the regime so that they do not obstruct and they provide access to resources



Authoritarian Modernisation

Democratisation theory – The richer a country is, the more democratic it becomes (historically) Authoritarian regimes have begun to modernise the economy to provide growth and gain legitimacy. £14,496 GDP per capita should make a country democratic – but this is changing Many countries (China, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and UAE) see incomes above this limit. Example: China China have made many moves towards modernization, including: - Rapid economic growth – estimates it will overtake US. However, possible economic growth is overstated. -

Began holding elections at commune level

-

Belt and Road Initiative –making Beijing more accessible

-

Investing in infrastructure

-

Legislation is open to review.



Authoritarian adaptability and survival.

Authoritarian Bolstering/Promotion – Authoritarian regimes are supporting each other more and more. eg. Russia has tried to stop efforts of democratization in other post-soviet countries. Authoritarian Gravity Centre/Models – China, North Korea, Kazakhstan act as models for other authoritarian regimes Reshaping International Norms – Authoritarian regimes try to get elected to the UN Human Rights Council and have tried to re-shape it. Don’t like the responsibility to protect order. Authoritarian regimes have created their own groups to share ideas and limit powers of other international groups eg. Eurasian Economic Union is a copy of the European Union and aims to keep democracy out of the Post-Soviet Space....