Transcript Comparing Josef Stalin and Mao Tse

ORIGIN AND PURPOSE OF
SINGLE-PARTY STATES
ORIGIN AND PURPOSE OF SINGLEPARTY STATES
Authoritarianism: small group in power, no
constitutional responsibility to public,
public no say in leaders
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Sometimes dictators, sometimes legitimate
Restrict individual freedom
Sometimes freedoms restricted to create
equality, sometimes just to enhance power
of leaders
ORIGIN AND PURPOSE OF SINGLE –
PARTY STATES
Authoritarian leaders CAN have a strong
ideology but can also be non-ideological
and just about personality of leader
• Ideological: fascism/communism
• Non-ideological: “Castro’s regime”, “Hussein;s
Iraq”
ORIGIN AND PURPOSE OF SINGLE
PARTY STATES
Totalitarianism: highly centralized to promote a
certain ideology in all social, political, and
economic areas of a society
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Often uses violence to enforce
authoritarian = similar, not necessarily ideological
Examples of totalitarian: Stalin, North Korea
NOT totalitarian: China (too fragmented), Iraq (not
ideological)
ORIGIN AND PURPOSE OF SINGLE
PARTY STATES
Economic Causes of Non-Democratic Rule:
• Not clear there are any
• Correlation between poorer countries and nondemocracies, but causation is not clear
• Income disparity with no middle class creates
more authoritarian
ORIGIN AND PURPOSE OF SINGLE
PARTY STATES
Societal Causes of Non-Democratic Rule
• Not clear there are any
• Non-capitalist, non-Christian societies seem more likely to be
non-democratic, but there is no real cultural reason for this
(Islam, Asia, Latin America all have been accused of having
“non-democratic cultures” but as they’ve industrialized
more they’ve increased their democratic tendencies)
• Leadership might be the key
HOW DO SINGLE-PARTY STATES
MAINTAIN POWER?
• Coercion: compelling behavior by
threatening harm (purges, show trials, death
squads, warning killings)
• Stalin killed between 5 million and 20 million
people who opposed him or who he perceived
as a threat. He “purged” all leaders of the 1917
revolution and many of the party elite.
• Surveillance: maintain a close watch
through “secret police.” Use wiretapping
and individuals to spy for the government.
HOW DO SINGLE-PARTY STATES
MAINTAIN POWER?
• Co-Optation: make individuals dependent
on the government
• Clientelism: the government gains loyalty by
giving individuals benefits and privileges
• Ex: Mexico and street vendors
• Ex: rent-seeking – political leaders rent out parts of the
state to individuals
• Corporatism: the government sanctions and funds
organizations and does not allow other
organizations to function (churches, labor unions,
student groups, neighborhood groups)
• Totalitarian regimes use this, also authoritarian (like Cuba
– only one labor union)
HOW DO SINGLE-PARTY STATES
MAINTAIN POWER?
• Personality cults:
• Promotion of the image of the leader not as just a political
leader but as an omniscient, semi-religious figure (Stalin)
• Supported by the media: news, rallies, art, music, film,
images
• Successes are because of leader, failures are blamed on
public or on enemies
• Public doesn’t always go along
HOW DO SINGLE-PARTY STATES
MAINTAIN POWER?
• Legitimacy:
• The public in every nondemocratic state is not just
waiting to be toppled by the public – the public
often supports the state wholeheartedly.
• Charismatic authority/leader is divine (Mao, Stalin,
Hitler)
• Hereditary authority (North Korea)
• Rational authority: they alone possess the
knowledge to guide the country
(techocrats/positivism – Latin America)
WHAT IS SINGLE-PARTY RULE?
• Only one political party exists (or is viable)
• The party
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Small minority (less than 10%) but significant
Members support government’s actions
Oversight at local level
Privileges in exchange for their loyalty
Propaganda
Ex: Zimbabwe (ZANU-PF), Cuba, North Korea, China,
Vietnam, Laos