POLS1002 Chapter Notes - Chapter 7: Autocracy, Authoritarianism, Totalitarianism
Democracy and Dictatorship
COLOMER ‘The Science of Politics’ – Ch 7 - Dictatorship
• In a dictatorship – an individual or a group “dictates” or orders, enforceable policy on a
number of matters and excludes large groups of the population from participating in decision
making
FORMS OF DICTATORSHIP
• Dictatorship, or “autocracy” - a form of government in which the political power is held by
non-elected, self appointed rulers
• A large, heterogeneous society with several lines of conflict and lower internal cohesion
may create more opportunities for a dictatorship to rise and win then a small, harmonious
community with dense networks of human relations
• A large territory under a single jurisdiction may appeal to a dictator motivated by confiscatory
aims – he can have access to a higher total volume of resources from a large population than
in a scarcely populated country
• The larger the country – the more costly the administrative and police apparatus needed to
keep the dictator in control – effective dictatorships should be limited in size
• Dictator’s common primary goal – hold on to power by coercive or violent means
Different forms of nondemocratic rule:
• Despotism – (personalistic rule) – old form of dictatorship deprived of ideology and prone to
arbitrariness
- Traditional despots can be motivated by tight, self-interested motives, both of power and
wealth, and by fear of revolution by their subjects, workers or slaves
- Traditional despotic regimes exert wide control but apply limited repression – to the
limits necessary to prevent or curtail rebellions and survive
- A relevant factor for a despotic regime to emerge and endure is the extence of a single-
crop economy – resistant to social, cultural, and political pluralism and relatively easy to
control
• Authoritarianism – a form of dictatorship typically corresponding to a relatively complex
situation in which the rules face a variety of groups in society
- Usually establish certain institutional rules to settle competition among different groups
of rulers:
1. Economic performance
• Authoritarian rulers can be interested in some degree of deliverance of private
and public goods in order to attract collaborationists, thwart rebellion, and obtain
broad assent and obedience
• At low levels of wealth, fast economic growth can be facilitated by merely
opening the country to foreign investment and international trade, which can
increase mass consumption and produce almost universal benefits for the
population
• Authoritarian regime can extract people’s resources by substituting theft with
taxes, which may make the regime able to deliver some public goods
• Government’s economic policy may protect domestic producers from foreign
competition in order to gain their support
• Economic growth can be used temporarily to strengthen nondemocratic regimes
2. Institutionalization
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Document Summary
Colomer the science of politics" ch 7 - dictatorship. In a dictatorship an individual or a group dictates or orders, enforceable policy on a number of matters and excludes large groups of the population from participating in decision making. Different forms of nondemocratic rule: despotism (personalistic rule) old form of dictatorship deprived of ideology and prone to arbitrariness. Traditional despots can be motivated by tight, self-interested motives, both of power and wealth, and by fear of revolution by their subjects, workers or slaves. Traditional despotic regimes exert wide control but apply limited repression to the limits necessary to prevent or curtail rebellions and survive. State control can be organized by a single party with an all-encompassing ideology or by a state church. Some totalitarian aims can be perceived in past absolute monarchies inspired in the doctrine of the divine right of kings e. g. charles i of england. Modern cases more in accordance with our definition include hitler"s third reich.
