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Authoritarian and democratic regimes
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One of the most common regimes in political history of humankind is authoritarianism. In authoritarian states, small group of people has the power to rule in the state (O’Neil, p.318). When compared to a totalitarian regime and democracy, authoritarianism seems closer to the totalitarianism, taking into account the presence of dictatorship and limitation of civil and political liberties of citizens by the ruling elite. On the flip side, some democratic features also present in some authoritarian states, in which a government does not regulate a private life of people. However, from the course of comparative politics, in particular, examples of China and Russia have shown that often the state passes all limits of ethicality when dealing with the governance. Therefore, I think that authoritarian states are more totalitarian, rather that democratic. Nevertheless, many states adopted authoritarianism, and despite most of them are now undergoing the transition to democracy, some of them “remain loyal” to non-democratic ways of the governance. In this essay, I would like to discuss the benefits of authoritarian style of policy-making, which probably provide an answer on why do some states prefer this regime, and consider consequences, by using current situations in China and Russia. It should be noted that often in authoritarian states, what is advantageous for people in charge is not beneficial for citizens.
First, the heads of authoritarian states have an absolute power and a monopoly over politics. An absolute rule gives leaders an opportunity to pass laws on their own, and even not to be bound by any laws, what produces flexible system of law-making and eases amending the constitution, and probably helps to prevent political stag...
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...l turn into blessing, or will it be the curse of nature – depend on the policy that the state adopts.
Works Cited
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2. Energy production (kt of oil equivalent). World Development Indicators database, the World Bank. http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/EG.EGY.PROD.KT.OE
3. Gross Domestic Product. World Development Indicators database, the World Bank. http://databank.worldbank.org/databank/download/GDP.pdf
4. O’Neil P. Essentials of Comparative Politics. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2010. Print.
5. Ross M. Does Oil Hinder Democracy? // World Politics. 2001. Vol. 53, No 3. P. 325—361.
6. The Democracy Index 2011. Economist Intelligence Unit, the Economist. https://www.eiu.com/public/topical_report.aspx?campaignid=DemocracyIndex2011
The authoritarian rule would show signs of dictatorship, as for a ruler or individual would have their priorities for a value
New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 2004. Romance, Joseph. Political Science 6 class lectures. Drew University, Summer 2004.
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Thus outcomes number two and three are most likely to happen eventually. The question remaining is thus, how can a nation prevent a domineering government for the longest time? This is outcome number one comes into play; a democratic system is by its very design meant to prevent a domineering government from arising. Outcome number four is the most unlikely to happen becau...
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Coercion, and subsequently the right to use violence, is the state’s sole method for functioning and existing. Without it, the state is powerless to exist credibly. Thus, at the core of political theory is the argument to justify the state’s use of coercion; without this, the state cannot be ethically justifiable. However, can a violent, or otherwise morally dubious act such as coercion, ever be truly justified? If enough good comes of it, surely it could be mitigated, but how much ‘good’ is enough? And can we really ever justify the indefinite use of coercion based solely upon favorable outcomes that have occurred in the past? If we cannot, then the only option that may be justified could be anarchy.
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Countries like China, Myanmar, Cuba, and Iran all employ a form of Authoritarian political system, where control is held by a single political ruler or a small group. Even though todays governments for these countries are leaning closer and closer to more democratic ideals and less authoritative ones they still play heavy roles on their citizen’s daily lives. Most if not all Authoritarian governments do not permit freedom of speech and look to control every aspect of daily lives of their citizens. Under Authoritarian rule the existence of individualism, liberalism, democracy, libertarianism and anarchism are heavily watched out for, controlled, and often severely punished. Many of the issues that have risen from authoritarian governments have