Modern Authoritarianism (post-1914)

5.01 Authoritarian States

Modern authoritarianism and its resistance to democracy

1. Incompetent majority
   • the lower classes supposedly lacked the breeding, education and culture needed to make hard decisions about the country’s welfare
2. Uncivilized majority
   • elites thought democracy for the masses would detract from ‘important things’ like the arts, which would all fall to the wayside
3. Indignant majority
   • in democracy, the majority controls leadership and policy
   • if the majority was poor, would they vote for policies to line already-wealthy coffers with even more wealth? how would the elites hold onto power then?

Modern authoritarianism, from 1914 (after 1914-1918 World War I) onwards, was a response to the above and a way for elites to cling onto power.

“Non-democratic governments […] have been the norm for most of history.”

However, the monarchies and empires of days past were markedly different than the authoritarianism that cropped up around the world after WWII.

Key traits included:

1. New form of legitimacy
   • traditionally, legitimacy came through royal blood and heredity
   • authoritarianism didn’t allow for legitimacy through the will of the masses; dictators had to innovate and find ways to declare themselves leaders of their countries
   • communism → liberalism → fascism, going from the political left to right
     • both ends reject democracy
2. Ideology is important
   • ideology dictates that the individual submit to the power of the state, on both ends of the political spectrum
   • often results in a cult of personality around the supreme leader of the country e.g. National Socialism (Nazism), communism – a reason for the government’s existence, giving them the legitimacy all authoritarian states so desperately crave
3. Centralized control
   • traditional hereditary monarchies ruled over illiterate peasants, with power enforced by conservative churches and guaranteed by a national military force
   • a modern dictator’s dream is to rule over a connected, industrial workforce
   • surveillance operations were developed and used to crush potential threats
     • incl. attempts to control people’s thoughts and emotions via sophisticated propaganda
   • modern authoritarianism seeks to control the modern individual – as society changes, so too do the formal and informal methods of control
     • indoctrination via media (formal), education (formal), national pride and patriotism
     • self-censorship – informal & self-imposed, an effort to survive in a society with harsh rules
       • a very powerful form of control, to have the populace projecting what is expected of them and regimenting their behaviours and identity as a survival mechanism → an indicator of a very, very successful authoritarian state
         • the state is shaping your identity via fear of incrimination, which = fear of the state
       • you put yourself and your family at risk if you fail to self-censor
       • an indicator that you have internalized the rules of this society