ENG ELC 220 Lecture Notes - Lecture 19: Liberal Democracy, Totalitarianism, Personal Rule
13 Oct 2020
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Document Summary
Varieties of authoritarianism and authoritarian regimes historically and currently. Notes: totalitarianism extreme form of authoritarianism aspiration for total rule, varieties of authoritarianism and authoritarian regimes historically and currently, political transition and regime change. Non-democratic regimes are defined in terms of what they deny their citizens such as participation, competition and liberty (socioeconomic and political). Features include: the people do not play a significant role in selecting or removing leaders from power. Elections do not hold too much weight or relevance: leaders have more room to manoeuvre because they are not accountable to their citizens. Individual freedoms are restricted, people do not enjoy full political rights. Power is exercised by a few, unbound by public or constitutional control. For most of history, democracy is a minority phenomenon, even though it has an inherently positive connotation. Democracy did not always exist; it was either small or non-existent. After the cold war, democratic governance spread rapidly.
