POL 2104 Chapter Notes - Chapter 6: Totalitarianism, Authoritarianism, Corporatism
20 Aug 2016
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Chapter 6: Nondemocratic Regimes
-nondemocratic states is a residual category
-they represent a wide array of systems, many of them bearing little resemblance to one
another
-they are defined mostly by what hey deny their citizens: participation, competition and
liberty
-scholars define nondemocratic regimes as those in which a political regime is controlled by
a small group of individual who exercise power over the state without being constitutional
responsible to the public
-the public plays no role in selecting or removing leaders from office
-political leaders have much greater leeway to develop policies that they can dictate to the
people
-involve the restriction of individual freedom
-the leader is the regime
-totalitarianism connotes violence and terror
-totalistic ideology which seeks the fundamental transformation of domestic institutions
-distinct from authoritarianism
-has a highly centralized state whose regime has a well-defined ideology and seeks to
transform and fuse the institutions of state, society and economy
-main objective is the use of power to transform the total institutional fabric of a country to
meet an ideological goal
-violence and terror often become necessary tools to destroy any obstacle to change
-violence and terror and used to break down existing institutions and remake them in the
leader’s own image
-emerges when those in power profess a radical or reactionary political attitude that rejects
the status quo and sees dramatic change as indispensable and violence as necessary
-examples: Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin (1930s-50s)
-modernization and nondemocratic rule: there is a strong correlation between societies that
lack modern institutions and nondemocratic rule
-modernization for some is seen as necessary for the development of an urban, educated
middle class who generate demands for democracy
-absence of a middle class is more likely to result in polarization of those in power
-modernization however can also be disruptive and uneven and generate instability
-political movements may emerge with promises to restore order and reconcile tensions
between old and new institutions
-elites and non democratic rule: modernization and wealth do not take into account
inequality
-elites may be less willing to share power when they fear losing their economic opportunities
in the process
-the state then becomes a tool to siphon off resources and maintain control
-resource trap: the existence of natural resources can be a barrier to modernization and
democracy
-resources give leaders the wealth to run the state without tax
-the means those in power can ignore the public’s political demands since there is no
social contract
-natural resources tend to stunt the development of a modern economy and middle class
-resulting wealth from resources is highly concentrated in the hands of the leader
-oil is a most obvious example of this
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Document Summary
They represent a wide array of systems, many of them bearing little resemblance to one another. They are de ned mostly by what hey deny their citizens: participation, competition and liberty. Scholars de ne nondemocratic regimes as those in which a political regime is controlled by a small group of individual who exercise power over the state without being constitutional responsible to the public. The public plays no role in selecting or removing leaders from of ce. Political leaders have much greater leeway to develop policies that they can dictate to the people. Totalistic ideology which seeks the fundamental transformation of domestic institutions. Has a highly centralized state whose regime has a well-de ned ideology and seeks to transform and fuse the institutions of state, society and economy. Main objective is the use of power to transform the total institutional fabric of a country to meet an ideological goal.
