Authoritarianism is a form of social organization Social organization or social institution, refers to a group of social positions, connected by social relations, performing a social role. It can also be defined in a narrower sense as any institution in a society that works to socialize the groups or people in it. Common examples include education, governments, families, economic systems, characterized by submission to authority Authority, from the Latin word auctoritas, means invention, advice, opinion, influence, or command. Essentially authority is imposed by superiors upon inferiors either by force of arms or by force of argument (sapiential authority). Usually authority has components of both compulsion and persuasion. For this reason, as used in Roman law, authority. It is opposed to individualism Individualism is the moral stance, political philosophy, ideology, or social outlook that stresses "the moral worth of the individual". Individualists promote the exercise of one's goals and desires and so independence and self-reliance while opposing most external interference upon one's own interests, whether by society, family or any and democracy Democracy is a political form of government where governing power is derived from the people, either by direct referendum or by means of elected representatives of the people (representative democracy). The term comes from the Greek: δημοκρατία – (dēmokratía) "rule of the people", which was coined from δῆμος (dêmos) &. In politics Politics , is a process by which groups of people make collective decisions. The term is generally applied to behavior within civil governments, but politics has been observed in other group interactions, including corporate, academic, and religious institutions. It consists of "social relations involving authority or power" and refers, an authoritarian government is one in which political power is concentrated in a leader or leaders Leadership has been described as the "process of social influence in which one person can enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task." Definitions more inclusive of followers have also emerged. Alan Keith stated that, "Leadership is ultimately about creating a way for people to contribute to making, typically unelected, who possess exclusive, unaccountable, and arbitrary power.[1][2]
Contents |
Characteristics
Theodore M. Vestal of Oklahoma State University–Stillwater has written that authoritarianism is characterized by:
- "Highly concentrated and centralized A centralized or centralised (UK) government is one in which power or legal authority is exerted or coordinated by a de facto political executive to which federal states, local authorities and smaller units are considered subject. In a national context, centralization occurs in the transfer of power to a typically sovereign nation state power structures" in which political power Political power is a type of power held by a group in a society which allows administration of some or all of public resources, including labour, and wealth. There are many ways to obtain possession of such power. At the nation-state level political legitimacy for political power is held by the representatives of national sovereignty. Political is generated and maintained by a "repressive Political repression is the persecution of an individual or group for political reasons, particularly for the purpose of restricting or preventing their ability to take part in the political life of society system that excludes potential challengers" and uses political parties A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to attain and maintain political power within government, usually by participating in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions. Parties often espouse an expressed ideology or vision bolstered by a written platform with specific goals, forming a coalition among and mass organizations to "mobilize people around the goals of the government";[3]
- The following principles The scientific process generally consists of establishing a cause by analyzing its effect upon objects. In this way, a description can be established to explain what principle brought about the change-effect. For this reason the principle of cause is considered to be a determining factor in the production of facts[3]:
- rule of men, not rule of law While the rule of law has been described as "an exceedingly elusive notion" giving rise to a "rampant divergence of understandings", a dichotomy can be identified between two principal conceptions of the rule of law: a formalist or "thin" and a substantive or "thick" definition of the rule of law. Formalist
- rigged elections Electoral fraud is illegal interference with the process of an election. Acts of fraud affect vote counts to bring about a election result, whether by increasing the vote share of the favored candidate, depressing the vote share of the rival candidates or both. Also called voter fraud, the mechanisms involved include illegal voter registration,
- all important political decisions made by unelected officials behind closed doors
- a bureaucracy Bureaucracy is the combined organizational structure, procedures, protocols, and set of regulations in place to manage activity, usually in large organizations. As opposed to adhocracy, it is often represented by standardized procedure that guides the execution of most or all processes within the body; formal division of powers; hierarchy; and operated quite independently of rules, the supervision of elected officials, or concerns of the constituencies they purportedly serve
- the informal and unregulated exercise of political power
- Leadership that is "self-appointed and even if elected cannot be displaced by citizens' free choice among competitors"[citation needed]
- No guarantee of civil liberties Civil liberties are rights and freedoms that protect an individual from the state. Civil liberties set limits on the government so that its agents cannot abuse their power and interfere unduly with the lives of private citizens or tolerance for meaningful opposition In politics, the opposition comprises one or more political parties or other organized groups that are opposed to the government, party or group in political control of an area, county, or state;[3]
- Weakening of civil society Civil society is composed of the totality of voluntary civic and social organizations and institutions that form the basis of a functioning society as opposed to the force-backed structures of a state and commercial institutions of the market: "No freedom The opposite of a free society is a totalitarian state, which highly restricts political freedom in order to regulate almost every aspect of behavior. In this sense ‘freedom’ refers solely to the relation of humans to other humans, and the only infringement on it is coercion by humans to create a broad range of groups, organizations, and political parties to compete for power or question the decisions of rulers", with instead an "attempt to impose controls Social control refers generally to societal and political mechanisms or processes that regulate individual and group behavior, leading to conformity and compliance to the rules of a given society, state, or social group. Many mechanisms of social control are cross-cultural, if only in the control mechanisms used to prevent the establishment of on virtually all elements of society";[3]
- Political stability maintained by "control over and support of the military A military is an organization authorized to use force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. As an adjective the term "military" is also used to refer to any property or aspect of a military. Militaries often function as societies within societies, by having their own to provide security to the system and control of society; 2) a pervasive bureaucracy staffed by the regime; 3) control of internal opposition and dissent Dissent is a sentiment or philosophy of non-agreement or opposition to a prevailing idea or an entity (e.g. an individual or political party which supports such policies). The term's antonyms include agreement, consensus (when all or nearly all parties agree on something) and consent (when one party agrees to a proposition made by another); 4) creation of allegiance An allegiance is a duty of fidelity said to be owed by a subject or a citizen to his/her state or sovereign through various means of socialization Socialization is a term used by sociologists, social psychologists, anthropologists, politicians and educationalists to refer to the process of inheriting norms, customs and ideologies. It may provide the individual with the skills and habits necessary for participating within their own society; a society itself is formed through a plurality of."
Authoritarian political systems may be weakened through "inadequate performance to demands of the people."[3] Vestal writes that the tendency to respond to challenges to authoritarianism through tighter control instead of adaptation Adaptation is the evolutionary process whereby a population becomes better suited to its habitat. This process takes place over many generations, and is one of the basic phenomena of biology is a significant weakness, and that this overly rigid approach fails to "adapt to changes or to accommodate growing demands on the part of the populace or even groups within the system."[3] Because the legitimacy The word legitimacy is often interpreted in a normative or a positive way. In a normative sense, legitimacy gets greater attention as a part of moral philosophy. It is a status conferred by the people on the government's officials, acts, and institution through their belief that the government's actions are an appropriate use of power by a legally of the state is dependent on performance, authoritarian states that fail to adapt may collapse.[3]
Authoritarianism is marked by "indefinite political tenure" of the ruler or ruling party The ruling party or governing party in a parliamentary system is the political party or coalition of the majority in parliament. Within a parliamentary system, the majority in the legislature also controls the executive branch of government, thus leaving no possibility of dueling parties concurrently occupying the executive and legislative (often in a single-party state A single-party state, one-party system or single-party system is a type of party system government in which a single political party forms the government and no other parties are permitted to run candidates for election. Sometimes the term de facto single-party state is used to describe a dominant-party system where laws or practices prevent the) or other authority.[3] The transition from an authoritarian system to a democratic Democracy is a political form of government where governing power is derived from the people, either by direct referendum or by means of elected representatives of the people (representative democracy). The term comes from the Greek: δημοκρατία – (dēmokratía) "rule of the people", which was coined from δῆμος (dêmos) & one is referred to as democratization Democratization is the transition to a more democratic political regime. It may be the transition from an authoritarian regime to a full democracy, a transition from an authoritarian political system to a semi-democracy or transition from a semi-authoritarian political system to a democratic political system. The outcome may be consolidated (as it.[3]
John Duckitt of the University of the Witwatersrand The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg is a leading South African university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg. It is more commonly known as Wits University. The university has its roots in the mining industry, as does Johannesburg and the Witwatersrand in general suggests a link between authoritarianism and collectivism Collectivism is a term used to describe any philosophic, political, economic or social outlook that emphasizes the interdependence of every human in some collective group and the priority of group goals over individual goals. Collectivists usually focus on community, society or nation. Collectivism has been widely used to refer to a number of, asserting that both stand in opposition to individualism Individualism is the moral stance, political philosophy, ideology, or social outlook that stresses "the moral worth of the individual". Individualists promote the exercise of one's goals and desires and so independence and self-reliance while opposing most external interference upon one's own interests, whether by society, family or any.[4] Duckitt writes that both authoritarianism and collectivism submerge individual rights Group rights are rights held by a group rather than by its members separately, or rights held only by individuals within the specified group; in contrast, individual rights are rights held by individual people regardless of their group membership or lack thereof. Group rights have historically been used both to infringe upon and to facilitate and goals to group goals, expectations and conformities Conformity is the process by which an individual's attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors are conditioned by what is conceived to be what other people might perceive. This influence occurs in both small groups and society as a whole, and it may be the result of subtle unconscious influences, or direct and overt social pressure. Conformity also occurs.[5] Others argue that collectivism, properly defined, has a basis of consensus decision-making Consensus decision-making is a group decision making process that not only seeks the agreement of most participants, but also the resolution or mitigation of minority objections. Consensus is usually defined as meaning both general agreement and the process of getting to such agreement. Consensus decision-making is thus concerned primarily with, the opposite of authoritarianism.
Authoritarianism and totalitarianism
Totalitarianism Totalitarianism is a political system where the state, usually under the control of a single political person, faction, or class, recognizes no limits to its authority and strives to regulate every aspect of public and private life wherever feasible. Totalitarianism is generally characterised by the coincidence of authoritarianism (where ordinary is generally considered[by whom?] to be an extreme version of authoritarianism. Building on the work of Yale political scientist Juan Linz, Paul C. Sondrol of the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs has examined the characteristics of authoritarian and totalitarian dictators and organized them in a chart:[6]
Sondrol argues that while both authoritarianism and totalitarianism are forms of autocracy An autocracy is a form of government in which one person possesses unlimited power. An autocrat is a person ruling with unlimited authority. The term autocrat is derived from the word autokratōr (αὐτοκράτωρ, lit. "self-ruler", or "one who rules by himself"). It is distinct from oligarchy ("rule by the few"), they differ in "key dichotomies A dichotomy is any splitting of a whole into exactly two non-overlapping parts, meaning it is a procedure in which a whole is divided into two parts, or in half. It is a partition of a whole into two parts (subsets) that are:":
(1) Unlike their bland and generally unpopular authoritarian brethren, totalitarian dictators develop a charismatic Charisma is a trait found in persons whose personalities are characterized by a personal charm and magnetism (attractiveness), along with innate and powerfully sophisticated abilities of interpersonal communication and persuasion. One who is charismatic is said to be capable of using their personal being, rather than just speech or logic alone, to 'mystique A cult of personality is similar to hero worship, except that it is propagated by mass media. However, the term may be applied by analogy to refer to adulation of religious or non-political leaders' and a mass-based, pseudo-democratic interdependence Interdependence is a dynamic of being mutually and physically responsible to, and sharing a common set of principles with others. This concept differs distinctly from "dependence" in that an interdependent relationship implies that all participants are emotionally, economically, ecologically and or morally "interdependent." with their followers via the conscious manipulation of a prophetic image.(2) Concomitant role conceptions differentiate totalitarians from authoritarians. Authoritarians view themselves as individual beings, largely content to control; and maintain the status quo. Totalitarian self-conceptions are largely teleological. The tyrant In classical politics, a tyrant is one who has taken power by his or her own means as opposed to hereditary or constitutional power. This mode of rule is referred to as tyranny (τυραννίς turannis) is less a person A person is any individual human being. The direct plural term is "persons." The term people is the general plural of "person," and is used to refer to person plurally in a range from 'a few persons' up to 'all people' (cf. humanism). "People" is often used to refer to an entire nation or ethnic group, and in this than an indispensable 'function' to guide and reshape the universe. (3) Consequently, the utilisation of power for personal aggrandizement is more evident among authoritarians than totalitarians. Lacking the binding appeal of ideology An ideology is a set of ideas that discusses one's goals, expectations, and actions. An ideology can be thought of as a comprehensive vision, as a way of looking at things , as in common sense (see Ideology in everyday society below) and several philosophical tendencies (see Political ideologies), or a set of ideas proposed by the dominant class, authoritarians support their rule by a mixture of instilling fear and granting rewards to loyal collaborators, engendering a kleptocracy Kleptocracy, alternatively cleptocracy or kleptarchy, from Greek: κλέπτης and κράτος (rule), is a term applied to a government that takes advantage of governmental corruption to extend the personal wealth and political power of government officials and the ruling class (collectively, kleptocrats), via the embezzlement of state funds.[6]
Thus, compared to totalitarian systems, authoritarian systems may also leave a larger sphere for private life The private sphere is the complement or opposite to the public sphere. The private sphere is a certain sector of societal life in which an individual enjoys a degree of authority, unhampered by interventions from governmental or other institutions. Examples of the private sphere are family and home. Martin Heidegger argues that it is only in the, lack a guiding ideology, tolerate some pluralism in social organization, lack the power to mobilize the whole population in pursuit of national goals, and exercise their power within relatively predictable limits.
|
Stockholm News
... will be treated by Geely, a company which is known even in the Chinese context for being top-down managed in a very authoritarian way according to SVT.
and more »
admin
Sun, 01 Aug 2010 00:06:55 GM
History shows that mankind has been plagued by . authoritarian. governments since the dawn of collective governance. We have many instances of governments that fit the defintion of a Police State from the East German Stasi, Soviet KGB to ...
