Political Authoritarian Regime: Definition, Signs, Characteristics

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Political Authoritarian Regime: Definition, Signs, Characteristics
Political Authoritarian Regime: Definition, Signs, Characteristics

Video: Political Authoritarian Regime: Definition, Signs, Characteristics

Video: Political Authoritarian Regime: Definition, Signs, Characteristics
Video: Understanding what authoritarianism is | University of Amsterdam | Political Science Department 2024, March
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Authoritarianism is considered one of the most common types of government in human history. It is one of the forms of political dictatorship, but by its characteristics it is located between democracy and totalitarianism. So what is this regime?

Political authoritarian regime: definition, signs, characteristics
Political authoritarian regime: definition, signs, characteristics

The authoritarian political regime in the minds of people is often confused with another - a totalitarian regime, and a sharply negative attitude towards both forms of power arises. But they differ significantly from each other: totalitarianism presupposes complete control of the state over all spheres of social life, while authoritarianism claims only to control the political sphere. And this is just one of the differences. To understand what constitutes an authoritarian regime, it is necessary to consider it in more detail.

Definition of the term

Authoritarianism is a type of political regime in which power is not with the people, but with one person or group of persons (party or class). Decisions that are important for policy are made without the participation of the population, or this participation is minimized.

The people are not required to express their loyalty to the authorities, and a certain freedom of opinion and decisions remains with them, but the framework of such freedom is established and controlled by representatives of the authorities. As for political rivals, authoritarianism is merciless towards them.

Examples of countries with dominant authoritarian regimes:

  • North Korea;
  • Saudi Arabia;
  • China;
  • Iran;
  • Syria;
  • Armenia, etc.

Classification of political regimes

The classification helps to understand what place authoritarianism occupies among the forms of government. There are many political regimes in the world, but there are only three dominant ones - democracy, totalitarianism, authoritarianism. And if we consider in more detail:

  • democracy is a regime in which the participation of the population in political governance is maximal, moreover, the people can influence the turnover of power (Norway, Iceland, Switzerland, Canada or ancient Greece);
  • totalitarianism is the absolute control of power over all spheres of people's life, the population does not take any part in governing the state at all, and power is usually usurped by one person (Germany during the Third Reich, the USSR under Stalin, etc.);
  • the authoritarian system is, as it were, between these two regimes and, according to political scientists, it is a kind of compromise option that combines the features of both types of government.

And separately there is such a type of regime as anarchy - this is anarchy, when there is no leader or ruling party in the state.

Differences between authoritarianism and democracy

Under an authoritarian regime, as well as under a democracy, there is a multiparty system that leaves people with the illusion of choice, and many democratic institutions remain and work so that the population has the feeling that it is taking part in political decisions.

However, all this in fact turns out to be purely nominal, since the same elections, for example, have a formal character, and their result is decided in advance. Little real power has been left for the people, but the illusion of control has been preserved. This is the main difference between authoritarianism and democracy.

The difference between an authoritarian regime and a totalitarian one

At first glance, both regimes are very similar: the population is removed from power, all politically important decisions are made by the ruling person or person, the life of society in both cases is under the control of the state. However, there are also quite significant differences:

  • the basis of power - under authoritarianism it is the personality of the leader, his authority and unique qualities; under totalitarianism, the basis of the ruling regime is in ideology;
  • since an authoritarian regime rests on a leader, then with its overthrow, the very form of government can fall, and under totalitarianism, collapse can occur only with the fall of the structure of power itself - leaders are replaceable;
  • under totalitarianism there are no democratic signs: a multi-party system and certain democratic institutions, authoritarianism allows this.

But under both regimes, real power and the ability to govern the state are not available to the population.

Signs of authoritarianism

The authoritarian regime of government manifests itself, first of all, in the political and economic sphere; it does not pretend to religion, education or culture. And therefore, the signs can be divided into political and economic. The first of them include:

  1. The form of government is either autocracy, when all power is concentrated in the hands of one person, or a dictatorship, in which power belongs to one ruling class, or an oligarchy. In fact, the state is ruled by a limited group of people, and other people cannot access it. And even if there are elections in the state, their character is absolutely nominal.
  2. All branches of government belong to the group of ruling persons in an authoritarian country: judicial, legislative, executive. And representatives of the latter of them control the work of the other two structures, which is why corruption is growing.
  3. The authoritarian government does not allow real opposition, but allows fiction - parties that, although they oppose the ruling regime, in fact serve it. This gives the illusion of democracy and strengthens an authoritarian regime.
  4. A group of ruling persons and their families with this form of power are, as it were, above the law: if they commit crimes, they are hushed up, if they still failed to be silenced, the crimes remain unpunished. The power and law enforcement structures belong only to the ruling group, the people have no influence on them.
  5. Mass repressions, however, are not allowed in the state - if the government decides that there is a need, then it applies targeted: it eliminates one or several people who really opposed themselves to the ruling group.
  6. The method of governing the state is command-administrative, the protection of the rights and freedoms of citizens is openly declared, but not observed in practice.

The economic signs include the fact that the main financial flows in the state are under the control of the ruling group. The largest enterprises in the country will work to enrich the people in power. For other citizens who have no ties with them, it will be difficult to achieve financial well-being even if they have good business qualities.

In order to draw a conclusion about an authoritarian control system, most of the listed features are sufficient. It doesn't have to be all of them.

Advantages and types of an authoritarian regime

Despite the high risk of corruption, dependence on the leader and significant state control over the population, authoritarianism also has advantages:

  • stability in politics and public order;
  • the ability to quickly and efficiently mobilize public resources to address specific challenges;
  • overcoming and suppressing opponents in the field of politics;
  • the ability to bring the country out of the crisis by solving progressive problems.

For example, after World War II, when many countries of the world suffered from acute social and economic contradictions, it was the authoritarian regime that was most desired.

The types of authoritarianism are diverse, and among the most frequent political scientists distinguish:

  • theocratic, when power is concentrated in a religious clan;
  • constitutional-authoritarian, in which power is with one party, although a formal multi-party system is allowed in the country;
  • despotic - the only leader runs the state, relying on the arbitrariness and assistance of clan or family structures;
  • personal tyranny, when power is in the hands of one person, but its power institutions are absent (example: Hussein's regime in Iraq).

The types of an authoritarian political regime are also an absolute monarchy and a military dictatorial regime.

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