Authoritarianism Flashcards

What are the 5 step in the Scientific Method

1. Question - Puzzle

2. Theory or Model

3. Implications (Hypotheses)

4. Observations (Test Hypotheses)

5. Evaluation

Define falsifiability

The ability of a hypothesis or theory to be proven false through empirical evidence or experimentation.

What are two non-falsifiable statements?

1. Tautologies

2. Statements about unobservable phenomena

What are 4 main attributes of democracies?

1. Free and transparent media

2. Free and fair elections

3. Free market

4. Separation of powers

What were Dahl’s two views of democracy?

1. Substantive View - emphasis on experience of citizens living in the state - expression, criticism of state

   - focuses more on outcomes

2. Procedural or Minimalist View - whether or not the country observes the rule of law

   - Focuses more on mechanisms and structures

What is a Polyarchy?

The idea that any large country in the world will ever be fully democratised.

Polarchies are define via two dimensions. Name them.

Inclusion - the extent that citizens can politically participate

Contestation - the ability for groups to contest against the government (political parties, pressure groups)

What are the three measures for democracy?

1. Democracy-Dictatorship

2. Polity IV

3. Freedom House

What are the 4 components of a democracy?

1. The chief executive is elected

2. The legislature is elected

3. There is more than one party competing in elections

4. There has been an alternation in power under identical electoral rules

What are the five attributes that are used to determine a polity score?

1. Competitiveness of Executive recruitment

2. Openness of executive recruitment

3. Executive constraints / decisions rules

4. Regulation of political participation

5. Competitiveness of participation

What are the two broad categories of Freedom House, and how are they each measured?

• Political rights (right to vote and compete for office) - Country awarded 0-4 points for each of ten questions

• Civil Rights (freedom of speech etc.) - Country awarded 0-4 points for each of fifteen questions

What are 3 important things for validity?

• Attributes

• Aggregation issues

• Measurement level

What are the main 4 measures we can use to evaluate democracies?

1. Conceptualisation

2. Validity

3. Replicability

4. Reliability

Define conceptualisation.

The process of forming abstract ideas or concepts based on specific observations or experiences. It involves understanding and representing complex information in a simplified and organized manner to enhance comprehension and problem-solving skills.

Define Reliability?

• Repeatedly and consistently produces the same score for a given case when we apply the same measurement process

• Includes several people, when given the same rules for measuring democracy, all produce the same democracy for a given country

Define Replicability.

The ability of a study's findings to be reproduced or replicated by other researchers using the same methods and data to determine if similar results are obtained.

What are the three types of Authoritarian regimes?

• Monarchies

• Military dictatorships

• Civilian dictatorships

What is the most common type of authoritarian regime?

Civilian Dictatorships:

• Dominant-party dictatorships

• Personalistic dictatorships

What’s the difference between Military and Civilian dictatorships?

Flashcard: Difference between Military and Civilian dictatorships?

Military dictatorship: Form of government where the military holds power and controls the state. The military usually seizes control through a coup or rebellion.

Civilian dictatorship: Form of government where a single individual or a small group holds power and controls the state. They are not affiliated with the military and gain power through non-military means.

Note: Both types of dictatorships involve the concentration of power in the hands of a few, but the key distinction lies in the involvement of the military.

According the Svolik, what are the 2 key features of dictatorships?

• Lack an independent authority with the power to enforce agreements among key political actors

• Violence is the ultimate arbiter of conflicts in authoritarian politics

Authoritarian regimes are often classified based on 4 dimensions. What are those dimensions?

1. Military involvement

2. Restrictions on political parties

3. Legislative Selection

What are the 4 levels of military involvement in authoritarian regimes?

1. None

2. Indirect

3. Corporate

4. Personal

What are the 3 levels of restrictions on political parties in authoritarian regimes?

1. Parties banned

2. Single party

3. Multi-party

What are the 6 types of Legislative selection in authoritarian regimes?

1. None

2. Unelected or appointed legislature

3. One party

4. Largest party controls >75% of seats

5. Largest party controls <75% of seats

6. Nonpartisan legislature

What are the 5 types of Executive selection in authoritarian regimes?

1. Unelected

2. One party / candidate

3. Selected by a small unelected body

4. Elected by >75% of the vote

5. Elected by <75% of the vote

What are the 5 categories of hybrid regimes?

1. Partially democratic regime

2. Tutelary regimes - elected govts are constrained by non-elected institutions

3. Semi-competitive democracies - elections are free but a major party is banned

4. Competitive Authoritarianism is a subset of civilian dictatorships

5. Competitive Authoritarianism is a type of hybrid or semi-democratic regime

What are the main differences between competitive authoritarianism and full authoritarian regimes?

What are the 3 main differences between CA and Democracies?

CA:

• Lack of free and fair elections - no massive fraud, but election results are still tampered

• Civil liberties only “nominally guaranteed” / “partially respected”

• Lack of reasonably level playing field

Democracy:

• Free and fair elections - virtually no fraud or voter intimidation; opposition can campaign on relatively even footing

• Civil liberties protected

• Reasonably level playing field

What are the 3 reasons of there being a lack of a reasonably-level playing field?

1. State institutions are used for partisan end

2. Incumbents are systematically favoured

3. Opposition’s ability to organise and compete in elections is handicapped

How is a lack of a reasonably-level playing field achieved?

1. Access to resources

2. Access to media

3. Biased referees

What are the three measurement levels?

1. Nominal measure - used for variables that have no quantitative values - Ethnicity

2. Ordinal measure - used for variables that do have a natural order, but no quantitive differences between values - socioeconomic status

3. Interval measure - scale used to label variables that have a natural order and equal intervals between variables - temperature

What are the 6 different types of hybrid regimes?

1. Liberal democracy

2. Electoral democracy

3. Ambiguous regimes

4. Competitive authoritarian

5. Hegemonic electoral authoritarian

6. Politically closed authoritarian

What type of regime was Liberia during William Tubman’s presidential term (1944-1971)?

Hegemonic electoral regime - one dominant party

What type of regime was Malaysia during Mahathir Mohamad’s time in office (1981-2003, 2018-2020)?

Competitive authoritarian regime - Multiparty system

What type of regime was Uganda during Idi Amin’s time in office (1971-1979)

Military dictatorship - no party or legislature

What are the two fundamental problems of governance (Gandhi's View)

Autocrats need to prevent their authority from being ruled over by the masses as they have little legitimacy, whilst also needing their cooperation for economic benefit

Svolik's interpretation of the problem of autocratic governance

• Problem of authoritarian control (masses pose a threat to the dictator as they are excluded from power)

• Problem of power sharing (dictators face a threat from elites within government who may seek to replace the dictator)

What is the issue with using the military as a tool to repress the citizenry?

Military can gain significant leverage against the government, meaning a coup is more likely. Resources and policy concessions will have to siphoned off to the military to prevent this.

What are rents?

Bribes to individuals but may include broader benefits like state employment or public works programs

What is a contested autocracy?

A contested autocracy is a balancing act between autocrat and their elites- elites use the threat of rebellion to keep a dictator in check.

What is an established autocracy?

A dictator has accumulated so much power they cannot be credibly challenged. Typically leads to personalistic rule and personality cults.

Why may a rebellion threat lack credibility?

There are dire consequences (death or exile is almost certain) and there is a lack of information on the dictator's intentions

What are the three regimes of interaction?

Perfect political control, military tutelage and brinkmanship bargaining

In Gandhi's view (2008), repression and co-optation are compliments. True or False?

False. Svolik views them as compliments whereas Gandhi views them as substitutes.

What is the role of a regime party in terms of co-optation? (Gandhi)

Provides a forum for individuals willing to collaborate with the regime, individuals receive perks, privileges and potential for career advancement.

Through what institution are concessions typically made? (Gandhi)

Legislatures

My drilla Svolik argues that co-optation and repression are compliments. True or False?

True

What are some of the features of the assignment of service and benefits within autocratic parties?

Vertical command structure, different benefits associated with each level of hierarchy

What are two benefits of using institutions? (Gandhi)

Institutions reduce insecurity and political transaction costs

What are the three key factors that may influence a dictator to establish institutions? (Gandhi)

Need for cooperation, the degree of polarisation and the strength of the opposition

For Svolik, what are the three organisational features of successful authoritarian parties?

Political control over appointments, hierarchical assignment of service and benefits and selective recruitment and repression

What is the main mechanism that Svolik identifies as to how institutions successfully co-opt party members?

Sunk costs

Incumbent regimes will co-opt those who are ideologically dissimilar and repress those who are closer (Svolik). True or False?

False

For Svolik (2012), the legislature and political parties have the same function by different audiences. True or False?

True

What is the commitment problem? (Svolik)

Describes the dictator's incentive to betray allies- to defect on promise to share spoils of joint rule and take it all for themselves.

What is selectorate theory?

All leaders are motivated by the desire to gain and maintain office.

Define what the selectorate aspect of the selectorate theory is   

The selectorate is the set of people who can play a role in selecting the leader.

Through what two goods can leaders keep their winning coalition satisfied?

Public goods and private goods

Define what the ratio of W/S means.

The ratio of W/S represents the probability a member of the selectorate will be in the winning coalition.

What are two benefits of autocratic regimes?

Mobilisation power (single-party regimes) and state autonomy

What are two negative of autocratic regimes?

A lack of stable set of rules and the state does not respect contracts (as there is no independent authority to guarantee agreements)

Name two benefits of providing the military with resources.

• Reduces the likelihood of a military coup

• Gives the military resources to suppress any potential mass opposition to the dictator

What are three positive aspects of Instutionalised dictatorships? 

They are more liberties, lower military spending and higher social spending (theoretically)

Why do institutions have a positive effect on economic growth?

There is increased information via institutions, thus domestic groups are less likely to rebel as they can negotiate with the regime and there is lower political transaction costs between regime and opposition.

What are Svolik's two assumptions of authoritarian regimes? No independent authority to enforce agreements.

• No independent authority to enforce agreements.

• Violence is the ultimate arbiter of conflicts and is an ever-present threat.

How do institutions help to reduce Svolik's assumptions of authoritarian regimes?

Institutions help by alleviating monitoring problems and increase transparency.

True or False? Having formal rules within institutions makes it easier to detect dictatorial noncompliance (if and when it occurs)

True

Authoritarian regimes with instutionalised power-sharing should: (Two answers)

• Avoid unnecessary intra-elite conflict due to increased information

• Should be more durable (Svolik argues there is a greater threat from elites rather than masses)

Describe hybrid regimes.

• Hybrid regimes are neither fully authoritarian nor fully democratic

• A reasonably level playing field does not exist, but the incumbent may still lose power in elections.

What are Gandhi’s two views on institutionalisation in autocracies?

1. Institutions under dictatorships are a sham

2. The formation of such institutions allows opposition to organise and make progress in liberalising the regime → democratic transitions

According to Gandhi, what are the two main problems of governance that dictators face?

1. Dictators do not have the same legitimacy as democratic leaders, as they aren’t chosen by their citizens

2. Dictators need some form of cooperation from those they rule

   1. More internal stability = more internal prosperity

What are the two main types of concessions?

1. Rents

2. Policy compromises

What are the 3 types of legislatures under dictatorship?

1. No legislature

2. Appointed

3. Elected but… vetted or partial elections

How do dictators respond to democratisation?

• Establishment of free & fair elections

• Broad protection of civil liberties and rights

• Implementation of more level playing field

What are the two main determinant factors of democratisation?

1. Western linkage and leverage

   1. Economic, political, social, organisational ties with the West

2. Dictator’s organisational power (internally / domestically)

   1. External pressure is weaker

   2. Domestic factors become more important