Political Science 1020E Lecture Notes - Lecture 10: Azar Gat, Francis Fukuyama, Liberal Democracy
26 Jun 2018
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Tutorial 10 – Questions
Azar Gat, “The Return of Authoritarian Great Powers”, Foreign Affairs
(July/August 2007), 59-69
1. What does Azar Gat mean by the term “authoritarian capitalist great
powers” (p. 59)? In your view, does it make sense to group Russia and
China under this label?
Authoritarian capitalist great powers are communist, centrally planned states
that have a market economy
2. Francis Fukuyama, if you recall, wrote that the end of history would
feature capitalism paired with liberal democracy. Gat, however, argues
“that there is nothing inevitable about liberal democracy’s ultimate
victory – or future dominance” (p. 60). Is this true? Could Russia and
China represent an alternative path to full modernity?
China and Russia, may represent a viable alternative path to modernity which
in turn suggests that there is nothing inevitable about liberal democracy’s
ultimate victory or future dominance
3. According to Gat, “democratic regimes show no greater tendency to
stick together than other types of regimes” (p. 61). Why might we expect
democracies to form alliances with each other? Are you inclined to
believe that political regime type has an impact on foreign policy
decisions?
Share certain values and beliefs, and want to advance those values
4. Gat makes the intriguing claim that “the right-wing totalitarian powers
could have constituted a more viable challenge to the liberal
democracies than the Soviet Union did” (p. 62). On what basis does he
claim this? Do you agree?
Because of their more efficient capitalist economies
The liberal democracies did not possess an inherent advantage over
Germany in terms of economic and technological development, as they did in
relation to their other great-power rivals
Politics 1020E, 2017-2018, Term 2, Page 1 of 3
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Document Summary
Azar gat, the return of authoritarian great powers , foreign affairs (july/august 2007), 59-69. In your view, does it make sense to group russia and. Authoritarian capitalist great powers are communist, centrally planned states that have a market economy. Francis fukuyama, if you recall, wrote that the end of history would feature capitalism paired with liberal democracy. That there is nothing inevitable about liberal democracy"s ultimate victory or future dominance (p. 60). China and russia, may represent a viable alternative path to modernity which in turn suggests that there is nothing inevitable about liberal democracy"s ultimate victory or future dominance. According to gat, democratic regimes show no greater tendency to stick together than other types of regimes (p. 61). Share certain values and beliefs, and want to advance those values. Gat makes the intriguing claim that the right-wing totalitarian powers could have constituted a more viable challenge to the liberal democracies than the soviet union did (p. 62).
