1. Political Science: An Introduction
Michael G. Roskin
Robert L. Cord
James A. Medeiros
Walter S. Jones
Chapter 6
Regimes
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2. Regime’s Control of Information
Chinese propaganda about “liberating” Tibet
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3. Kinds of Regimes
Athenian democracy – all male citizens equal, their civic duty to participate and vote
Totalitarian regimes like Stalinist Russia demand absolute obedience, even try to control thoughts by indoctrination
Sham democracies like Egypt have trappings of democratic institutions but controlled by regime
Some regimes, more or less democratic, tending toward authoritarianism, like Venezuela and Bolivia
Freedom House ranks countries on a relative freedom scale
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4. Freedom House Rankings on Relative Freedom
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5. Democracy
“Democracy” comes from Greek words meaning government by the people
Greeks had direct democracy where all citizens could vote on government policies; US states have direct democracy through referendums
Representative democracy is where people elect representatives to make laws and govern
Democracy a term variously used; dictatorships pretend to be democratic, such as Communist Peoples Democracies
Illiberal democracies are regimes elected to power but lack democratic qualities such as civil rights and limits on government; the Islamic republic of Iran is an example
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6. Representative Democracy: Characteristics (1)
Popular Accountability of Government – Elected officials need to be able to be held accountable, usually by being voted out of office
--Requires frequent, fair, and open elections
Political Competition – Voters must have a choice either of candidates or parties
--Parties must have time and freedom to organize and publicize their positions
--Must have adequate access to media
--Defective voting systems (“hanging chads”) negate the popular will
--Gerrymandering in US reduces our democracy
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7. Representative Democracy – Characteristics (2)
Alternation in Power – Power must change hands in peaceful, legitimate way; no party should hold executive power indefinitely
--Parties in power may tilt the rules to keep power, as Singapore’s People’s Action Party’s redrawing constituency boundaries to maintain majority
--Important role of alternation in power is to control corruption, which otherwise is inevitable
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8. Representative Democracy – Characteristics (3)
Uncertain Electoral Outcomes – A certain proportion of the electorate must be up for grabs in any election; otherwise the political system can become deadlocked
--In Iraq, most voters vote along ethnic and religious lines, giving their parties a secure, invariable voting bloc; this makes it difficult to compromise, and for secular parties to arise and run on broad national issues
--Where an ethnic group makes up majority, as does Zimbabwe’s Shona tribe, dictatorship comes more easily and Mugabe has been able to persecute minorities
--In India, many caste members tend to vote for their caste parties, but enough are individualistic and vote for more general parties
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9. Representative Democracy – Characteristics (4)
Popular Representation – voters elect representatives to act as legislators and to take care of the public interest
Some legislators claim that election gives them mandates to carry out their constituents’ wishes
Some theorists argue that legislators are trustees who must act in the best interests of the polity as a whole
Joseph Schumpeter argued that the electorate can’t have a definite opinion on every issue, so legislators must do what they view as best
One view is that voters seek a general direction for policy; legislators provide means and details for this goal
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10. Representative Democracy – Characteristics (5)
Majority Decisions – The majority decides issues to provide a definite decision where many views may exist
But, it’s incumbent on majority to respect minority rights; the civil rights movement argued movingly that the Black minority had been oppressed for centuries
Thus, many changes in society come about through conflict between majority and minority groups; the civil rights movement ultimately triumphed, giving Blacks much greater equality in law
When minority views are silenced, we have “tyranny of the majority,” which is prelude to executive tyranny
Discussion Question: Do you think gays and lesbians can or should be allowed to marry?
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11. Representative Democracy – Characteristics (6)
Right of Dissent and Disobedience – the right of people to resist government commands they deem wrong or unreasonable
Thoreau defended civil disobedience when people, through individual conscience, strongly oppose government policies
Gandhi brought India independence through non-violent civil disobedience
Thoreau and Gandhi believed civil disobedience was to get authorities’ attention to rethink policies, not to impose change violently on society
Civil disobedience can be effectively mobilized en masse, as Martin Luther King, Jr., demonstrated
For civil disobedience to work, regime has to accept some limits to its actions; it would only get you killed in Stalin’s Russia or Nazi Germany
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12. Representative Democracy – Characteristics (7)
Popular Equality – all adults must be allowed to vote and participate in politics
Doubts have been raised whether the great amount of money required in elections truly permits full participation by all
Popular Consultation – Important for leaders to monitor public opinion on current issues
Public opinion polls serve as a window on public attitudes, for a given moment, though they can be quite variable from week to week
Some small but powerful constituencies can sway politicians unduly (such as finance industry and National Rifle Association) with their cash and distort democratic will
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13. Representative Democracy – Characteristics (8)
Free Press – Democracy cannot function without free and critical mass media; they provide citizens with facts, opportunity to criticize government and to publish their arguments
For these reasons, authoritarian governments try to control press, allowing them to shape public perspectives and keep public passive
Regimes can keep corruption and incompetence hidden if no free press
Some criticize the media as biased, especially in favor of liberals; in truth, the media is biased toward getting a good story, Republican or Democratic
The multiverse of communications modes – traditional press, Internet, blogs, Twitter, and the like – provides a “marketplace of ideas,” though it seems often like chaos, and unfortunately is little professionally edited
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14. Democracy in Practice: Elitism or Pluralism? (1)
Gaetano Mosca argued that government always falls into the hands of a few, and Robert Michels argued that any organization, no matter how democratic its intent, will be run by a small elite (Iron Law of Oligarchy)
Elite theory argues that the key policy decisions are made by a tiny minority; Robert Dahl felt government too large, issues too complex, for any other option
Elite theorists feel elite rule unfair, undemocratic; that decisions benefit the powerful and wealthy
--Bush 43, a former wealthy oil executive, fostered tax cuts for wealthiest 1%, special tax breaks for oil firms
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15. Democracy in Practice: Elitism or Pluralism? (2)
Pluralism argues that political decisions are largely driven by interest groups
While there may be powerful business interests, pluralists point out the action government has taken to close down asbestos operations and curtail the use of tobacco, as a result of various other interests promoting government action
Some pluralists argue that only societies with traditions of pluralism can foster democracy; democracy has had little success taking root in Russia where Communism eliminated most competing groups
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16. Interest group demonstrating before Capitol
Pluralism
Interest group demonstrating before Capitol
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17. Democracy in Practice: Elitism or Pluralism? (3)
Both elitism and pluralism may be too simple; polyarchy is the synthesis that interest groups compete (pluralism), but that each group is run by elites (elitism)
Arend Lijphart calls this “consociational democracy” – elites agree among themselves on rules of the game, and get their followers to abide by the rules
Lijphart’s Netherlands is example of Calvinist, Catholic, and secular elites reaching an accommodation to work together
When elite accommodation breaks down, strife results, as in Lebanon’s civil war
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18. Models of Elitism, Pluralism, and Polyarchy
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19. Totalitarianism (1)
Totalitarianism – a political system where the state attempts total control of its citizens
Elites almost totally unaccountable – they monopolize instruments of force, hold power tightly and violently if necessary, hence difficult to remove short of regime collapse, as in E. Europe and Soviet Union in late 20th century
Distinct from dictatorship and authoritarianism – these forms of regime seek power for power’s sake, for certain individuals and cronies
--Such regimes tend to act arbitrarily, not in accord with some overarching ideology
N. Korea only true totalitarian state today
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20. Totalitarianism (2)
A totalitarian state operates under an all-encompassing ideology – tries to restructure society according to goals of the ideology
Regime promotes official theory of history, economics, politics, and social development – all required to believe this version; any dissenters are enemies of the people
Only one party legally exists, led by a single individual who fosters a “cult of personality”
Membership in party is elite honor, limited to a few, bringing special privileges – in USSR, party members could shop at special stores for goods unavailable to rest of society
The hierarchical party is superior to all other institutions in society – party members hold or control all important positions in government and society
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21. Totalitarianism (3)
Totalitarian regimes use secret police apparatus to intimidate citizens, without judicial restraints
Secret jailings, torture, and concentration slave labor camps all used to keep control of populace
Stalin and Mao, especially, utilized purges to break any competing sources of power and keep potential enemies off balance
Regime monopolizes mass media to control information citizens receive, and to propagandize
Regime controls economy tightly, making state powerful and able to allocate resources to serve its interests, such as military production
But, such control served economy badly when computers and internet arose with transparent information systems, as the regimes still tried to control and compartmentalize information flows
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22. Authoritarianism
Authoritarian regimes governed by small group that minimizes popular input
They aren’t usually ideological
These regimes don’t try to control everything – many cultural, social, economic and other matters left up to individuals so long as they don’t threaten regime
Individual freedoms limited in favor of hierarchical organization of command, obedience, and order
Some trappings of democracy may exist, such as courts and legislatures, but they rubber stamp regime’s orders
The official party always wins elections
Today, China and Russia may be “authoritarian capitalist” regimes in allowing market economies but retaining political control
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23. Authoritarianism and the Developing Nations
End of colonial empires after World War II created many new states that started out calling themselves democracies
They had no Western traditions of democracy, and usually individualistic culture or market economy
The societies were usually tribal, and tribes often lived across international boundaries, especially in Africa
Charismatic leaders, such as Sékou Touré of Guinea and Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana, established single-party rule which centralized power in authoritarian states
Officials pushed wasteful projects, became corrupt, and suppressed dissent; usually imposed socialism, to sad economic consequences
Often, military coups led to military dictatorships
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24. Types of Authoritarianism
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25. The Democratization of Authoritarian Regimes
Democratization seems to happen to (1) authoritarian countries with rapid economic growth, and (2) collapsed Communist states with slow economic growth
When authoritarian regimes permit relatively free markets, they become ripe for some form of democracy
This is driven by growth of a middle class seeking reforms, increased numbers of educated who can’t be hoodwinked by demagoguery, and people beginning to recognize and pursue their pluralistic interests
Gradually, as these come together, regimes tend to ease up and permit democratic reforms
This scenario doesn’t apply to petrostates which keep democracy at bay with jobs and handouts to the people
Communist states collapse when poor economic growth signals failure of system; when ideology shown to fail, regime is too brittle to reform and so breaks down
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26. Why Democracies Fail
Apart from outside conquest, democracies usually fail because they come too soon; stable democracies require large, educated middle class
Poor people more concerned with survival than rights, and easily demagogued, as are newly enfranchised voters
Hitler could destroy Weimar Republic because Germans had no tradition of democracy and Germany was going through desperately hard times in Great Depression
Several characteristics work against democracy: poverty, great inequality, no middle class, low education levels, oil, tribalism, little civil society, no earlier democratic experience, and no democratic countries nearby
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