The Techniques of Dictatorship

Mr. Bauer

Force• 1. Police - control the police

force and you control who can be arrested, detained, or disappear, and control the conditions of detainment, such as right to trial or need for charges to be laid

Force• 2. Terror - use of fear of what

the state can do to you, with or without cause. Includes methods such as public executions, treatment of opposition, “disappearances”

Indoctrination• 1. Education - use of an

education system to instill in citizens the beliefs and value systems (ideologies) of the elite

Indoctrination• 1. (Reeducation) - training

dissidents or intellectuals into the belief systems of the elite, often using brainwashing or torture

Indoctrination• 2. Propaganda

partial or false release of information to show only the side of an issue the elite wishes shown

bias the people in a particular direction

Direction of Popular Discontent

• 1. Scapegoating

a. Internal Enemies - turn the anger or frustration of the people against a segment of the population (ie. Jews in Germany, WWII)

Direction of Popular Discontent

b. External Enemies - focus the anger or blame for conditions on a group outside of the nation (ie. U.S.A. blaming all their problems on U.S.S.R. during Cold War)

Controlled Participation• 1. Elections - selection of

candidates allowed to run in elections, control of ballot results, who gets to vote

Controlled Participation

• 2. One Party Monopoly - only one legal political party - at the most, citizens can choose between different candidates from the same party

Controlled Participation• 3. Tokenism - token

participation - ie. on a local level such as collective council, ineffective representation such as Estates-general, town hall meetings, non-empowered branches of government

Evaluating the Techniques of Dictatorship

Advantagesdecisions made quickly

(efficient)production can be swiftly

changed to fit the needs of the elite or society

no excess Bureaucracy less politicians

Disadvantages• Non-representative

• no guarantee those ruling are fit to rule

• no avenues for appeal

• to the advantage of elite, not majority

Disadvantages• no checks or balances

• only one perspective viewed when making decisions

Approximate map of world dictatorships. Dark red represents current dictatorships; light red represents former dictatorships.

(List of dictators) (Dictators and Non-Democratic Governments)

     This map reflects the findings of Freedom House's 2013 survey

Freedom in the World, concerning the state of world freedom in 2006.      

Freedom in the Worldhttp://www.freedomhouse.org/report-types/freedom-world

Types of Dictatorships• The Military

• The Ideological One-Party State

• The Traditional Absolute Monarchy

• The Nationalist One-Party State

The Military• the leader is in control of the armed forces

• the military ensures that the laws, courts and police carry out the will of the leader

• has the appearance of a parliamentary or presidential type of government, but citizens have no say in government

• common to many South American nations such as Peru, Chile Argentina.

The Ideological One-Party State• one small political group is in power • no dissent or any opposition is allowed • government policy is based upon a system of doctrines• only the small elite has the right to carry out the aims of

those doctrines• appears in developing societies that wish to

industrialize• an example would be the government of the Soviet

Union and China.

The Traditional Absolute Monarchy

• a government where one individual has total control

• the leader has the ability to pass power on to his heirs

• usually a feature of traditional types of societies

• examples include Saudi Arabia.

The Nationalist One-Party State

• a single mass party under one leader• extremely nationalistic • appear in advanced and industrial

societies• racist policies• very imperialistic• Militarist• Hitler’s Nazi Germany and

Mussolini’s Italy are common examples