Systems of Government &

Transitions to Democracy
What is Autocracy?

• Definition:
• Greek terms auto (self) + kratia (rule)
• despotism, tyranny
• rule by one
• without regard to law
Defining Features of Autocracy
Defining Features:

1. Rule is arbitrary, not bound by law.

2. Rule serves ruler vs. common interest.
3. Rule is based on coercion and fear.
4. Do not derive their power from elections, and cannot be removed
from power by them.
5. Can rule as long as they can hold onto power.
Authoritarian Governments
• Political power is off limits to anyone who is not in the inner circle
• Varies depending on the type of government
• Challenging the government or seeking political power is not
permitted
• Can be very popular with segments of the population
• Especially early on
• Restoring order, fighting corruption, etc.
Ideology & Authoritarian Governments
• Authoritarian governments can come from any ideology or even lack
a coherent ideology
• What matters is not what authoritarian governments believe but how
they wield their power
• Power always flows from the top: from leaders who guard it zealously and
oftenuse brutal violence and intimidation to hold on to it
Types of Authoritarian Governments
1) Personal Dictatorships
2) Party Dictatorships
3) Military Government
4) Theocracy
Personal Dictatorships
Party Dictatorship
Military Government
Totalitarianism
• Official Ideology
• Official state ideology is
extremely important
• Aims: realization of utopian
society
• Sense of historical mission
• Political indoctrination used as a
form of control
“Everything in the state,
nothing outside the state,
nothing against the state.”
- Mussolini
Features of Totalitarianism
• One Party State
• Single mass party (usually no more than 10% of the population of the
country)
• Party=the state
• Society directed towards single common project
• Top-down hierarchy of control
• Infiltrates all elements of society
• No toleration of opposition
• Sometimes involves pseudo-elections
Features of Totalitarianism
• Charismatic Authority
• generally one all-powerful
leader
• authority derives from
personal qualities
• survival of regime largely
contingent but not entirely
dependent upon one person
Features of Totalitarianism

• Absence of the Rule of Law

• law is subordinated to and
determined by the state
• no legally guaranteed rights or
protections
• legal framework subject to
arbitrary change
Features of Totalitarianism
• Communications Monopoly
• information controlled by the state
• state owns or directs media
• propaganda plays central role
• severe restriction of foreign materials
• official ideology guides arts & culture
Features of Totalitarianism
• State Terrorism & Totalitarianism
• Totalitarian states almost always resort to state terrorism to maintain
control over their populations
• Police and military agents of state control
• Special or ‘secret’ police units
• Under direct control of official leader
• Not subordinated to legal restrictions
• Regular use of intimidation, arrest, torture, execution
• Use of political violence is arbitrary and unpredictable
Why Do Authoritarian Regimes Fail?
• It is sometimes hard for people like us who only know democracy to
understand why authoritarian regimes might fail
• Authoritarian governments do not have to worry about losing
elections or needing to keep their citizens happy
• Reasons for failure:
• Failure to manage a complex economy
• Internal and domestic pressures for change
What is democracy?
• A democratic political system is one in which ultimate political
authority (sovereignty) is vested in the people
• Roots in Greek language … Demos (people) + Kratos (rule) = Rule of
the people
What is Liberal Democracy?
• Liberal Democratic Ideology
• focus on individual liberty
• public (the state) vs. private (civil society, the market) dichotomy
• focus political, legal equality
• democracy defined primarily as a process or technique of allocating decision-
making authority
Features of Western Liberal Democracy
1) Equality of Political Rights

2) Majority Rule

3) Political Participation

4) Political Freedom
Limitations of Liberal Democracy
• Elite Rule
• elected officials are drawn primarily from upper and upper middle classes
• Tyranny of the Majority
• fundamental principle: majority rules
• Private vs. Public Interests
Starting Transitions
• Different types of transitions can occur
• Pacted Transition
• Top-down
• Pacts or agreements are signed among the elites in formerly undemocratic
states that establish democratic government
• Bottom-up Transition
• The people can demand the transition to democracy
• The people form a movement and demand democracy
Transitional Elections
• Once elites agree to meet the people’s demands then a transitional election can
occur
• Election that marks the official beginning of democracy
• Concerns
• Need some way to assure they are fair
• Need a quick and honest vote count
• All candidates need a certain amount of media time
• After the election the transition to democracy has occurred but it is far from consolidated
Constrained Democracy
• Features free and competitive elections and often a thin example of
democracy
• Country meets the procedural definition of democracy
• Can be looked at in terms of steps
1) An opening when an authoritarian regime shows weakness
2) A breakthrough when the authoritarian regime collapses
3) The transitional election, which is the first experience with democratic
politics
Partial or Imperfect Democracy
• Thin democracy
• Countries where the democratic transition stalled before taking full effect
• Argentina in the 1990s
• Sometimes also called “low-intensity democracies”
• In some cases this term applies to democracies that depend on the support of
the military to rule
Delegative democracy
• Have competitive elections, wide-ranging political opposition, free
media, and legislatures and courts that function
• What they lack is any sort of serious control over their presidents and
prime ministers between elections
• Text: “They are governed by a boss who has as free a hand as the boss dares
to use”
• They can become even more powerful in a crisis, can assume great
powers in crisis
*Consolidation
• the situation when a country’s commitment to democracy is strong
and sure
• democracy is likely to persist
• unlikely to turn back to authoritarian or totalitarian rule
• very difficult to measure
• it is easy to tell when a country takes the first step towards democracy
but hard to tell when it truly takes hold
Why does consolidation fail?
• In some cases the governments themselves seek to prevent the
extension of democracy
• Sometimes they may be trying to keep more power to themselves
• In other cases there may be powerful interests in the government
acting against the spread of democracy
How Can We Promote and Strengthen
Democracy?
• Many current stable and consolidated democracies have made an
effort to encourage other countries to consolidate and become more
stable
• Among the countries that are significant sources of aid to poor countries only
Japan does NOT have a democracy component to its aid
• There are also some NGOs working to encourage the strengthening of
democracy
Are all these efforts well spent?
• Carothers (2002)
• Not well spent
• Advocate a one-size-fits-all philosophy
• What works to strengthen democracy in one country might not work in others
Democracy in Canada
• even in Canada we cannot take our democracy for granted
• although we never suffered under a dictatorship democracy has grown
significantly over time
• until early in the 20th century Canada had a property franchise
• until the 1940s some provinces restricted the right of non-European ethnic backgrounds
from voting
• women were denied the right to vote federally until 1918
• aboriginals could not vote until 1960
What does the future hold?
• Will democracy spread throughout the world?
• Are there parts of the world where democracy is not appropriate?
• Some analysts think that eventually all countries will at least have
elections
• Francis Fukuyama
• Worked for the US department of State
• Argued that in 1989 liberal democracy had already proven its superiority and
would soon become universally accepted