Authoritarian Political Ideology

An Authoritarian Political Ideology is a political ideology that is characterized by strong central power and limited political freedoms (such as a lack of free and competitive direct elections to the political legislature and/or the political executive).

• AKA: Authoritarianism.
• Context:
  • It can be applied in an Authoritarian State.
  • It can be emphasize Economic Growth over Human Growth.
  • It can range from being an Autocratic Ideology to being Oligarchic Ideology.
  • It can range from being a Dominant-party System Ideology or the Military Dictatorship Ideology.
  • It can range from being a Populist Authoritarian Ideology to being a Technocratic Authoritarian Ideology.
  • …
• Example(s):
  • Nationalist Authoritarianism, such as Fascism (e.g. Nazism).
  • Political Authoritarianism from Meiji Japan and Bismarckian Germany to 1980s Singapore and 1980s Thailand.
  • Market-Oriented Authoritarian States, such as: Franco’s Spain, 1980s South Korea, or 1980s Brazil.
  • …
• Counter-Example(s):
  • Political Pluralism.
• See: Communist Ideology, Social Mobilization, Political System, Legislature, Political Party, Political Legitimacy.

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References

2020

• (Wikipedia, 2020) ⇒ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Authoritarianism Retrieved:2020-10-15.
  • Authoritarianism is a form of government characterized by strong central power and limited political freedoms. Political scientists have created many typologies describing variations of authoritarian forms of government. Authoritarian regimes may be either autocratic or oligarchic in nature and may be based upon the rule of a party or the military.

    In an influential 1964 work, the political scientist Juan Linz defined authoritarianism as possessing four qualities: # Limited political pluralism, realized with constraints on the legislature, political parties and interest groups. # Political legitimacy based upon appeals to emotion and identification of the regime as a necessary evil to combat "easily recognizable societal problems, such as underdevelopment or insurgency". # Minimal political mobilization and suppression of anti-regime activities. # Ill-defined executive powers, often vague and shifting, which extends the power of the executive. Minimally defined, an authoritarian government lacks free and competitive direct elections to legislatures, free and competitive direct or indirect elections for executives, or both. Broadly defined, authoritarian states include countries that lack the civil liberties such as freedom of religion, or countries in which the government and the opposition do not alternate in power at least once following free elections. Authoritarian states might contain nominally democratic institutions such as political parties, legislatures and elections which are managed to entrench authoritarian rule and can feature fraudulent, non-competitive elections. Since 1946, the share of authoritarian states in the international political system increased until the mid-1970s, but declined from then until the year 2000.

2018

• https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/we-got-china-wrong-now-what/2018/02/28/39e61c0e-1caa-11e8-ae5a-16e60e4605f3_story.html
  • QUOTE: … Xi’s touting of Chinese-style illiberal state capitalism as “a new option for other countries” …

1992

• (Fukuyama, 1992) ⇒ Francis Fukuyama. (1992). “The End of History and the Last Man.” Free Press. ISBN:9780029109755
  • QUOTE: ... And yet, good news has come. The most remarkable development of the last quarter of the twentieth century has been the revelation of enormous weaknesses at the core of the world’s seemingly strong dictatorships, whether they be of the military-authoritarian Right, or the communist-totalitarian Left. From Latin America to Eastern Europe, from the Soviet Union to the Middle East and Asia, strong governments have been failing over the last two decades. ...

    ... Stable democracy has at times emerged in pre-industrial societies, as it did in the United States in 1776. On the other hand, there are many historical and contemporary examples of technologically advanced capitalism coexisting with political authoritarianism from Meiji Japan and Bismarckian Germany to present-day Singapore and Thailand. In many cases, authoritarian states are capable of producing rates of economic growth unachievable in democratic societies. ...

    ... As standards of living increase, as populations become more cosmopolitan and better educated, and as society as a whole achieves a greater equality of condition, people begin to demand not simply more wealth but recognition of their status. If people were nothing more than desire and reason, they would be content to live in market-oriented authoritarian states like Franco’s Spain, or a South Korea or Brazil under military rule. But they also have a thymotic pride in their own self-worth, and this leads them to demand democratic governments that treat them like adults rather than children, recognising their autonomy as free individuals. Communism is being superseded by liberal democracy in our time because of the realisation that the former provides a gravely defective form of recognition. …

1988

• (Altemeyer, 1988) ⇒ Bob Altemeyer. (1988). “Enemies of Freedom: Understanding Right-wing Authoritarianism.” Jossey-Bass,
  • ABSTRACT: ... He provides important new insights into the authoritarian personality, revealing how aggression, fear, and reverence for authority are the ingredients that fuel right-wing authoritarian movements. He explores the effects that parents, religion, and early education can have on the development of authoritarian attitudes in young adults — and explains why some religions produce greater levels of authoritarianism in their members than others. He examines the connections between right-wing authoritarianism and political affiliations, exploring the question of whether authoritarianism exists on the Left. And he examines the nature of the authoritarian threat to Western society — and how the power of our educational systems, news media, and religious institutions can be positively harnessed to ensure individual freedoms.

1972

• (Gabennesch, 1972) ⇒ Howard Gabennesch. (1972). “Authoritarianism As World View.” American journal of sociology 77, no. 5
  • ABSTRACT: A promising alternative to the psychoanalytic conception of authoritarianism is the "breadth of perspective" approach. Several writers have argued that authoritarianism results, at least in part, from the lack of broad social perspectives. However, they have not made it sufficiently clear how breadth of perspective operates to discourage authoritarianism and how it relates to more than one or two of the several components of the authoritarianism complex. By specifically taking account of the particular world view which underlies the interdependent characteristics of authoritarianism, it is possible to explicate the relationship between breadth of perspective and authoritarianism. This world view seems impressively similar to the concept of "reification," as described explicitly or implicitly by a number of social theorists. It is maintained here that reification is induced by narrow perspectives and diminished by broadened perspectives. An "authoritarian personality" is not a prerequisite for such reification. But many of the characteristics of authoritarianism can result from this orientation toward social reality.

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