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Main concepts behind authoritarian leadership
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Authoritarian style governments come in different forms and apply varying amounts of violence when enforcing their rule. People who live in democratic style governments often do not understand why people accept living in an authoritarian state, forgetting that in fact the authoritarian form of government is the oldest form of government on earth. A dictatorship government is one type of authoritarian government that gains world attention most notably by the extreme violence used to control their citizens. This paper will review authoritarianism; why humans put up with it; traits of paranoid, narcissistic, and charismatic personalities; and highlight Idi Amin Dada as a case in point.
Tendency to Favor Authoritarianism
In his book International Politics on the World Stage John T. Rourke (2008) states that governments range from the strict authoritarian at one end of the spectrum to a completely unfettered democracy at the other end (p. 78). His definition of an authoritarian style government is a “political system that allows little or no participation in decision making by individuals and groups outside the upper reaches of the government” (p. G-1). Those of us who live in a country that has a democratic government may find it difficult to understand why people who live in countries with authoritarian governments do not revolt and change their system of government, but in fact a truly democratic system of government is a relatively new concept in the age of man.
Rourke (2008) points out that the form of government most common throughout the history of man was authoritarian; leaders were an individual or group of people who exercised control. The people these leaders ruled had little opportunity to contribute to t...
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Boddy-Evans, A. (2003). Biography: Idi Amin Dada. In About.com online. Retrieved from http://africanhistory.about.com/od/biography/a/bio_amin.htm
Davison, G. D., Neale, J. M., & Kring, A. M. (2004) Abnormal Psychology (9th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Orizio, R. (2004). Talk of the devil: Encounters with seven dictators (4th ed.). (A. Bardoni Trans. 2003). New York, NY: Walker & Company. (Original work published 2002).
Post, J. M. (2004). Leaders and their followers in a dangerous world: The psychology of political behavior. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press
Rourke, J. T. (2008). International Politics on the World Stage. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill
Somit, A. & Peterson, S. A. (1997). Darwinism, dominance, and democracy: The biological basis of authoritarianism. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press
As depicted in A Few Good Men, authors Fromm, Dalrymple, and Szegedy-Maszak provide evidence as to why blind obedience influences individuals’ motives, such as fear and trust, to examine how unjust authority pollutes a person’s ability to
In this essay, I will define authoritarianism and discuss the differences and similarities between Adorno et al.’s and Altemeyer’s approaches towards authoritarianism. Authoritarianism refers to the obedience and strict adherence to rules and figures of authority, as well as this, an authoritarian personality can be characterised by hostility towards groups or individuals who differ from what they perceive as normal (The Open University, 2015, p23).
As the wise Plato once said, “Tyranny naturally arises out of Democracy.” It appears Plato was in fact wise beyond his years. He must have known that something in may prove him right in the future. This proof comes from Fascism during the years between World Wars. Fascism thrived during the interwar years because its eloquent leaders made the people to whom they spoke feel important to the common cause. In Italy and Germany especially, Hitler and Mussolini gave the people tasks in order to make them believe that they were significant. All of the events that transpired because of these two men played out when the leaders targeted the emotions of the people. Two men changed the face of history forever with powerful oratories, intricate parades, and clever propaganda meant to make the people of their respective countries feel in control, significant, and powerful.
American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Publishing.
people decide that they want a dictatorship. If I was a ruler during the period of the
totalitarian movements under control. Maybe sometimes people can get carried away with a lust for power, but it will always
Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King Jr., Abraham Lincoln, Winston Churchill, Theodore Roosevelt, Jesus Christ, Mahatma Ghandi, Lucifer; the list could go on. All these men had one thing in common; they were extraordinary leaders who gained loyal followers. These men also had several differences; the biggest being that some were destructive with their power and their ideals weren’t exactly on par with normality. Yet, what made people follow and respect the wishes of leaders who were destructive and insane? The attraction to these powerful leaders is found in the way that they are able to fill a void in that individual’s life. This void could consist of longing for safety and care, being lonely, or even missing having that family atmosphere. These are all things that destructive leaders are adept at providing.
Democracy is control by the people. On the surface, this appears to be a superior form, but as Plato warned it is slow to react, oppresses of the minority, and lacks skilled leaders (Perry,
Introduction Individuals often yield to conformity when they are forced to discard their individual freedom in order to benefit the larger group. Despite the fact that it is important to obey the authority, obeying the authority can sometimes be hazardous, especially when morals and autonomous thought are suppressed to an extent that the other person is harmed. Obedience usually involves doing what a rule or a person tells you to, but negative consequences can result from displaying obedience to authority; for example, the people who obeyed the orders of Adolph Hitler ended up killing innocent people during the Holocaust. In the same way, Stanley Milgram noted in his article ‘Perils of Obedience’ of how individuals obeyed authority and neglected their conscience, reflecting how this can be destructive in real life experiences. On the contrary, Diana Baumrind pointed out in her article ‘Review of Stanley Milgram’s Experiments on Obedience’ that the experiments were not valid, hence useless.
A dictator rules with an iron fist, as Charlie Chaplin once said “Dictators free themselves, but they enslave the people.” Dictators don’t care whether you want them to lead you or not “In a democracy you believe it or not, in a dictatorship you believe it or else” (Evan Esar). Currently there still are dictators, one of the most well know is ...
In Eva Bellin’s “The Robustness of Authoritarianism in the Middle East: Exceptionalism in Comparative Perspective” she argues that the inability of the Middle Eastern countries to catch up on the wave of democratization may be associated to the robustness of the coercive apparatus in multiple states of the area and their will and capacity to crush any form of democratic initiative. She makes a valid point by first acknowledging the fact that even though the majority of these states have failed to meet the prerequisites for democracy there are multiple countries around the world that have been able to establish democratic regimes in the absence of many of these conditions. However, she also recognizes that the lack of them may have strengthen
Barlow, David H., Vincent Mark. Durand, and Sherry H. Stewart. Abnormal Psychology: An Integrative Approach. Toronto: Nelson Education, 2012. 140-45. Print.
Barlow, D., Durand, V., & Stewart, S. (2009). Abnormal psychology an integrative apporach. (2nd ed.). United States of America: Wadsworth
Governments should be afraid of their people.”3( Quoted by Alan Moore, V for Vendetta) .In contrasts to the definition of authoritarianism, power is no longer in the hands of one ruler; but it now rests in the hands of the citizens of the state. According to Robert Dahl; “democratic theory is concerned with processes by which ordinary citizens exert a relatively high degree of control over leaders;”4 ( Quoted by Robert A. Dahl, A Preface to Democratic Theory, expanded edition). Dahl expressed that citizens are a definite factor for this political system to further define the system of democracy in a state. In one of Dahl’s work; “On Democracy”, he made a criteria on how Democracy works. In this criterion he expressed that this system does not give you what you want but gives you the chance to fight for what you want. The citizens are highly active in this system, because they get to address the needs of the community as a whole and not as individuals, and if it represents the majority, then the leader will grant this request for the citizens. The beauty of this system is that it represents all types of non-violent movements without absolute freedom. It even highlights the term “Public Servants” to the state. It bonds the representatives and constituents. When it comes to weighing in the cons, I believe that the only downfall for this system is that, because it is somewhat transparent, citizens can figure out the leader’s next move and they can easily take advantage of this. With that being said, people might think they have absolute freedom, and instead of asking for what they need, they might just start asking for what they
Authoritarianism is a form of government that has a strong central power. This strong central leader is sometimes one person or it can also be a small group of people. Authoritarianism also limits people’s freedom. Authoritarianism originated in Europe in the 15th century AD. Authoritarianism was more prominent 100 years ago than today. Authoritarianism is often used as an excuse to correct problems that some people might think a society has. For example, an argument for an authoritarian rule could be because there is a lot of terrorism happening in a country or area. Authoritarianism is often short-sighted, while it may be good for the short term it may have long lasting damaging effects on a country. Authoritarianism has a strong