Transcript DictatorshipsCommunismFascism

NON-DEMOCRATIC
Authoritarian Totalitarian
Gov’t
Groups
Process
Goals
Leaders chosen by
an elite whose
political authority
rests on the use or
threat of force
Decision making is
carried out by a small
group who may not
exercise power in the
interest of the majority
Use of FIPS
Decisive leadership, political
stability, social
order, rapid mobilization of resources
Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900)
Machiavelli
“The Lion & the Fox”
Thomas Carlyle
“Great Man” Theory
Nietzsche
“Superman”
DICTATORSHIPS APPEAL TO CERTAIN KINDS OF
PEOPLE IN CERTAIN KINDS OF SITUATIONS
Adorno: parent-child relationship/ dependent on others
for strength/ see the world as black and white.
Fromm:alienation of the individual in
the post-industrial society
Lipsett:Class base: Communism - lower classes
Fascism
- upper classes
Definitions:
DICTATORSHIP: absolute rule by one
person or by a small elite (authoritarian
government).
TYPES:
Aristocracy: Ruled by a privileged class.
Plutocracy: Ruled by rich.
Autocracy: Ruled by ONE person, a monarch
without restrictions
Oligarchy: Ruled by A FEW PEOPLE, a clan or
clique (Junta, if ruled by military). plutocracy
Theocracy: Ruled by people who claim a divine
right to rule.
Examples of each ( 20th
cent):
 Aristocracy (minority tyranny)
South Africa (under apartheid)
 Autocracy (absolute monarchy)
Brunei, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Suharto (Indon.)
 Oligarchy
Nicaragua (Samoza), Haiti (Duvalier)
 Junta (military dictatorship)
Iraq, Myanmar, Nigeria, Chile (Pinochet)
 Theocracy
Iran (Ayatollah Khomeini) Taliban (Afghanistan)
TOTALITARIANISM: a dictatorship that
controls ALL aspects of a society.
A product of the 20th century.
Accomplished by mass media.
Government control via F.I.P.S.
Hitler’s Germany, Stalin’s Soviet Union, Mao’s
China, Castro’s Cuba
Features:
FORCE/USE OF TERROR
INDOCTRINATION/PARTICIPATION
PROPAGANDA
SCAPISM
Also:
centralization of power
subservience of judiciary to executive
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DICTATORSHIP
Force & Terror
Most expedient way to control a
population and maintain power.
Zero toleration of dissent.
Nazi’s SA storm troopers, SS, Gestapo.
Italy’s Black Shirts (squadristi).
Stalin’s secret police (NKVD), Cheka,
Gulag, KGB (1954)
All used agents and informants informally.
Indoctrination & Forced
Participation
An education system to teach the values
of the party.
Target on youth:
Hitler’s Germany:
Jungvolk (10-14)
Hitler Youth (boys) League of German Girls
Soviet Union:
Little Octobrists (7-10)
Young Pioneers (10-14)
Komsomol (15-28)
Forced participation:
Gives semblance of participation in, and
approval of the political process.
Parades and celebrations.
Elections:
Party chooses all the candidates;
No real choices on ballots; or
No secret ballot.
Shows world that leader has widespread
support.
Propaganda
Language is the vehicle of thought.
Enhance image of leadership, and party.
Show greatness of state and people.
Examples:
Nazi Germany:
Joseph Goebbels (Minister of Public
Enlightenment)
People’s Observer (Nazi Party paper)
Soviet Union:
Pravda (“Truth”) paper of Communist Party
Scapism (Directing popular
discontent)
Alleviates responsibility of party/gov’t for
any problems.
Assists in limiting accountability.
Possible enemies:
Nazi Germany:
Jews; Socialists (responsible for betraying
Germany at the end of WWI)
Dissent from: Student groups (White Rose),
Catholic Church, Jehovah’s Witnesses
Soviet Union:
Reactionary Elements (White Russians);
capitalists; The West.
Dissent from:
• Intellectuals:
– Aleksandr Solzenitsyn, One Day in the Life of Ivan
Denisovich;
– Andrei Sakharov, inventor of the soviet H-bomb.
• Samizdat publication of dissident views.
Critique of Non-democratic
Governments
Lack of legitimacy
Inefficient and bureaucratic
Patronage;
Unchecked corruption
Littledictators
Widespread apathy and cynicism
Power struggles over succession
Leads to violent changes in government
changes
Elitism
Favoritism of certain groups in society; leads
to revolts.
COMMUNISM
(Marxism/Leninism):
 a.k.a.“Revolutionary Socialism”
Has it ever been achieved?
Ideal of Society:
Based on human capacity for
interdependence, solidarity, and
cooperativeness.
Abolishment of injustice
Achievement of equality for all.
Affirmations:
Humanism, rationality, and progress
Dignity of work
Internationalism and pacifism
Rejections:
Violations of human rights:despotism,
militarism, imperialism, fascism, racism,
torture.
Custom based societies
Capitalism, liberal individualism, inequality.
Revolutionary organizations and
tactics:
Political activity in the workplace; trade
unions, strikes.
Military or economic challenge to authority.
State structures and official policies:
Identification of state with interest of
working classes through medium of political
party.
Removal of old institutions and laws redolent
of privilege.
State direction of economy in the interest of
equal distribution of wealth and opportunity.
Historical Blind Spots of
COMMUNISM
International movement or National
movement.
Not always applicable to non-European
and pre-modern societies.
Highly militaristic.
Bureaucratic.
Totalitarian: elite run state.
Communism In Russia
The USSR (Union of Soviet
Socialist Republics)
Karl Marx (1818 - 1883)
Communist Manifesto
Das Kapital
Marx’s sidekick: Friedrich Engels (1820 1895)
Objective: an economic/political system
that would meet ppl. basic
needs…guaranteed.
Lenin (1874-1924)
Altered Marxism:
Could skip certain stages, i.e. capitalism (in
Russia’s case)
Vanguard needed to protect revolution, i.e. an
elite, rather than proletariat.
USSR’s political system
General Secretary of Communist Party #1.
Government is dominated by communist
party (CPSU); therefore…
Soviet Leaders
Lenin 1917-24
Joseph Stalin 1922-53
Nikita Khrushchev 1953-64
Leonid Brezhnev 1964-82
Yuri Andropov 1982-84
Konstantin Chernenko
1984-85
Mikhail Gorbachev 1985-1991
Glasnost (openness)
Political focus
Perestroika
(restructuring)
Economic focus
FASCISM
Ideal of society:
All people can
experience life
heroically as part
of a strong
dynamic
community.
Affirmations:
Possibility of a new order.
Power invested in a natural elite with a born
leader.
Rejections:
Decadent forces: liberalism - it saps a nation
of its energy.
Egoistic individualism.
Cosmopolitanism, cultural and racial mixing.
Humanitarian concerns with equality and
harmony.
Democracy.
Revolutionary organizations and
tactics:
Paramilitary and youth organizations.
Assertion of a strong leader.
Overt violence against perceived opponents
and enemies.
Esthetic of power symbolizing regeneration.
Arno Brecker
Nazi sculptor
1942
Roland Hugon
Propaganda poster
Vichy France, 1942
Joop!
Giorgio Armani magazine ads
Franco, Spanish
Dictator, circa 1935
State structures and official policies:
Identification of party with state.
Aggressive militarism.
Abolition of class conflict by assertion of
unity of interest in the glorification of the
state.
Historical Blind Spots of FASCISM:
Impossibility of integrating all aspects of
society into fascist vision.
Maintenance of momentum once all enemies
have been defeated.
Replacement of charismatic leader.
Why German Democracy
Failed (The Weimar Gov’t)
Proportional representation
0.5% gets a seat;therefore 2.6% in 1928
gave legitimacy to Nazis
Weak governments
20 coalition gov’ts from 1919-33; avg. 8
months; made of 3 or 4 parties
Political polarization
due to failure of mainstream parties
1932 Nazi (R) Communists (L) win majority
of seats
Disunity of the left
Communists refused to form a coalition
against Nazis w/ Social Democrat
Communists were anti-German democratic
Hostility to parliamentary democracy
seen by some Germans as a foreign political
system imposed on them by victorious Allies
(Treaty of Versailles)
Great Depression
six million out of work in Jan., 1932
Liberal Demo. Vs. Com. & Fasc.
 Representative assembly and
responsible executive.
 Two or more party system
 Free elections at regular
intervals
 Independent judiciary
 Freedom of opinion and
speech
 Freedom of association
 One party Totalitarian state.
 Rule by elite party or
dictatorship.
 No elections, if so no choice
 Judicial decisions conform to
party ideology.
 Censorship and limited
freedom of opinion and
speech.
 Limited freedom of
association; surveillance by
secret police.
Communism
Vs. Fascism
 Rule by proletariat
 Represent interest of
working class
 Aims at:
Intensifying class
structure
Working class
revolution
Classless society
 International movement
 Concerned with
betterment of individual
 Rule in interest of the
STATE
 Represents interest of
middle class and economic
elite.
 Aims at:
Eliminating class
conflict, BUT
maintaining class
structure
 National movement.
 The interest of the state
comes before those of the
individual.
 Nationalization of
economy
 Public ownership of the
means of production
 State planning
 Can have a cult leader.
 Private ownership of the
means of production
 State control of workers
and economy.
 Cult of leader, Fuhrer and
Il Duce.