chapter 7 - authoritarian regimes + democratic breakdown Flashcards
authoritarianism
a form of government or regime that is non-democratic
authoritarian regime
a non-democratic regime
democratic breakdown
the process thru which a democratic regime partially or completely loses its democratic status
authoritarian persistence
the ongoing continuation of an authoritarian regime, such that democratic transition does not take place
hybrid regimes
a class of regime that appears to be neither fully democratic nor fully authoritarian
What are some examples of hybrid regimes?
electoral authoritarianism, illiberal democracy, delegative democracy
totalitarian regime
a form of authoritarian regime that aims to control everything about the lives of its subject population
What are some examples of totalitarian regimes?
the Soviet Union; Germany under the Nazis
theocracy
an authoritarian state controlled by religious leaders, or a state with very strict religious restrictions that uses religion as its main mode of legitimation
personalistic dictatorship
a form of authoritarianism in which the personality of the dictator is highlighted
bureaucratic-authoritarian regime
a type of authoritarian regime that was associated with control of the state more by a group of elites, often the military, than by a single individual leader
When and where do we see bureaucratic-authoritarian regimes persist?
most common/persistent in Latin America (elsewhere too) in the mid-to-late twentieth century
illiberal democracy
a polity with some democratic features but in which political + civil rights are not all guaranteed or protected
delegative democracy
a hybrid form of regime that is democratic but involves the electorate “delegating” significant authority to a government
electoral authoritarianism
a name applied to situations in which authoritarian regimes nominally compete in elections
competitive authoritarianism
a form of gov’t or regime that allows some political competition but not enough to qualify as fully democratic
Under what circumstances do we usually classify a regime as authoritarian?
if something favors hierarchy and closed decision-making processes
What are some characteristics of totalitarian regimes?
- deny civil rights to citizens
- tend to not hold free + fair elections
- propagating a particular overarching ideology
- efforts to intervene freedom of thought
- usually one official party w/ dominant leader, towards which there is a hero/cultish worship
What are 3 recent examples of personalistic dictatorships?
- Mobutu Sese Seko in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Jean-Bedel Bokassa in the Central African Republic
- Idi Amin in Uganda
