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CHAPTER FOUR: AUTHORITARIAN RULE

4.1 Ten of the 45 largest states by population still ruled by authoritarian means, including China, Pakistan, Vietnam, Egypt and Iran. Control of oil (pp. 61-5).

4.2 The concept of a totalitarian regime (mainly communist and fascist): theoretically transformative and mobilizing. Totalitarian regime here treated as a form of authoritarian - that is, non-democratic - rule (pp. 61-5).

4.3 Characteristics of authoritarian rule : limited institutionalization, political vulnerability, economic stagnation. Reliance on the military, patronage and the media to maintain the ruling elite (pp. 61-5).

4.4 Communist states as party-led regimes with unequalled penetration of society. Governed about one in three of the world’s population at their peak in the 1970s and 1980s. The contrast between Marx’s ideals and the authoritarian reality. Lenin’s notion of the vanguard party. Economic planning as a dead-end once industrialization achieved. Continued economic growth sustains China and Vietnam as purely nominal communist states, fuelled in part by corruption (pp. 65-9).

4.5 Fascist states as leader-dominated regimes which sought to rebuild traditional national glories through an all-embracing modern order. Mussolini’s Italy as an example. Again, a contrast between fascist theory and poorly-administered regimes. The end of the fascist challenge in 1945 (pp. 72-3).

4.6 Personal despotisms: a single individual rules though fear and rewards, relying on a personal security force to maintain power. Examples: Dominican Republic ( Trujillo), Haiti (François Duvalier) (pp. 73-4).

4.7 Military government as a common form of rule in developing countries 1960s-1980s. Superpower support as a factor encouraging coups. The limited impact of many such governments. The retreat of the generals in the 1980s and 1990s but the difficult legacy of many post-military regimes (pp. 74-8).

4.8 Other types of authoritarian rule: party regimes (non-totalitarian), ruling royal families (Middle East), theocracy ( Iran), ruling president ( Uzbekistan) (pp. 76-81).