ORIGIN AND PURPOSE OF SINGLE-PARTY STATES

Authoritarianism: small group in power, no constitutional responsibility to public, public no say in leaders Sometimes dictators, sometimes legitimate Restrict individual freedom Sometimes freedoms restricted to create equality, sometimes just to enhance power of leaders

ORIGIN AND PURPOSE OF SINGLE – PARTY STATES Authoritarian leaders CAN have a strong ideology but can also be non-ideological and just about personality of leader Ideological: fascism/communism Non-ideological: “Castro’s regime”, “Hussein;s Iraq”

ORIGIN AND PURPOSE OF SINGLE PARTY STATES Totalitarianism: highly centralized to promote a certain ideology in all social, political, and economic areas of a society Often uses violence to enforce authoritarian = similar, not necessarily ideological Examples of totalitarian: Stalin, North Korea NOT totalitarian: China (too fragmented), Iraq (not ideological)

ORIGIN AND PURPOSE OF SINGLE PARTY STATES Economic Causes of Non-Democratic Rule: Not clear there are any Correlation between poorer countries and non- democracies, but causation is not clear Income disparity with no middle class creates more authoritarian

ORIGIN AND PURPOSE OF SINGLE PARTY STATES Societal Causes of Non-Democratic Rule Not clear there are any Non-capitalist, non-Christian societies seem more likely to be non-democratic, but there is no real cultural reason for this (Islam, Asia, Latin America all have been accused of having “non-democratic cultures” but as they’ve industrialized more they’ve increased their democratic tendencies) Leadership might be the key

HOW DO SINGLE-PARTY STATES MAINTAIN POWER? Coercion : compelling behavior by threatening harm (purges, show trials, death squads, warning killings) Stalin killed between 5 million and 20 million people who opposed him or who he perceived as a threat. He “purged” all leaders of the 1917 revolution and many of the party elite. Surveillance: maintain a close watch through “secret police.” Use wiretapping and individuals to spy for the government.

HOW DO SINGLE-PARTY STATES MAINTAIN POWER? Co-Optation: make individuals dependent on the government Clientelism : the government gains loyalty by giving individuals benefits and privileges Ex: Mexico and street vendors Ex: rent-seeking – political leaders rent out parts of the state to individuals Corporatism: the government sanctions and funds organizations and does not allow other organizations to function (churches, labor unions, student groups, neighborhood groups) Totalitarian regimes use this, also authoritarian (like Cuba – only one labor union)

HOW DO SINGLE-PARTY STATES MAINTAIN POWER? Personality cults: Promotion of the image of the leader not as just a political leader but as an omniscient, semi-religious figure (Stalin) Supported by the media: news, rallies, art, music, film, images Successes are because of leader, failures are blamed on public or on enemies Public doesn’t always go along

HOW DO SINGLE-PARTY STATES MAINTAIN POWER? Legitimacy: The public in every nondemocratic state is not just waiting to be toppled by the public – the public often supports the state wholeheartedly. Charismatic authority/leader is divine (Mao, Stalin, Hitler) Hereditary authority (North Korea) Rational authority: they alone possess the knowledge to guide the country (techocrats/positivism – Latin America)

WHAT IS SINGLE-PARTY RULE? Only one political party exists (or is viable) The party Small minority (less than 10%) but significant Members support government’s actions Oversight at local level Privileges in exchange for their loyalty Propaganda Ex: Zimbabwe (ZANU-PF), Cuba, North Korea, China, Vietnam, Laos