Authoritarian states (20th century) Notes

What Makes an Authoritarian State?

1. Authoritarian regimes prioritize state control and regime stability over individual freedoms.
   1. Typically, they feature a single ruling party or severely restrict political pluralism.
   2. Governments in such systems operate without constitutional accountability and often derive their authority through force or military coups.
2. Citizens in authoritarian states face severe restrictions.
   1. Freedom of speech, assembly, and movement are curtailed. Independent courts rarely exist, and all media is state-controlled or censored.
   2. Dissent is met with harsh punishment, from imprisonment to forced disappearances.

Authoritarianism and Totalitarianism

1. Political scientists Carl J. Friedrich and Zbigniew Brzezinski developed one of the foundational frameworks for understanding authoritarian, particularly totalitarian, regimes in the 20th century.
2. In their seminal work Totalitarian Dictatorship and Autocracy (1956), they identified six key features of totalitarian systems, which have been widely used to analyze authoritarian states.
3. According to Friedrich and Brzezinski, a totalitarian state is characterized by
   1. an official ideology,
   2. a single mass party typically led by a dictator,
   3. a system of terror (often through secret police),
   4. a monopoly on communications,
   5. a monopoly on weapons,
   6. and a centrally directed economy.
4. These criteria distinguish totalitarian regimes from merely authoritarian ones: while authoritarian regimes suppress dissent and limit political pluralism, totalitarian regimes seek to control nearly every aspect of public and private life.
5. According to philosopher Hannah Arendt, the distinctive feature of totalitarianism is that totalitarianism aims not merely to control political power but to reshape human nature and reality itself.

The Leader

1. Authoritarian leaders often build cults of personality, presenting themselves as the nation’s sole saviour.
2. Mass propaganda reinforces their authority, and the leader presents charismatic and paternalistic features.

When did authoritarian regimes emerge?

1. In the 20th C, following the collapse of monarchies after WWI, many nations experimented briefly with democracy before descending into authoritarianism.
2. Economic instability, national humiliation, and political chaos created fertile ground for strongmen to rise to power, promising order and national revival.
3. For Friedrich and Brzezinski, authoritarian states emerge after a crisis state: one in which the government loses the ability to maintain authority, legitimacy, or public services due to economic collapse, conflict, corruption, or widespread social unrest.
4. In such contexts, the state may face internal threats to its sovereignty and struggle to function effectively.
   1. This vulnerability often creates a power vacuum or public demand for strong leadership.
5. Authoritarian states frequently emerge or consolidate power during such crises.
   1. Leaders exploit instability to justify emergency measures, suspend civil liberties, and suppress opposition.
6. Thus, crises can serve as catalysts for authoritarianism, as citizens may trade freedoms for promises of stability and order.
7. This dynamic is often described as a "state of exception" (Agamben, 2005), where normal democratic processes are abandoned in the name of survival.

Giorgio Agamben’s “State of Exception” 

1. Giorgio Agamben’s State of Exception (2005) examines how governments exploit crises to suspend law and centralize power.
2. Drawing on Carl Schmitt, he describes a legal “grey zone” where rights are suspended but rulers claim legality.
3. Temporary emergency powers often become permanent, weakening democratic checks and balances.
4. In this state, individuals are reduced to “bare life” (homo sacer), stripped of rights and protections.