Authoritarianism

Major theorists such as Robert Dahl and noted democratic leaders such as former Argentine President Raul Alfonsin join forces to spell out the essential ingredients for avoiding disaster in post-authoritarian states. This edited collection challenges some of the existing views about democratization around the world and considers basic questions of both praxis and security. Part of this unique overview deals with practical lessons learned in various countries; part focuses on links between democracy and security. This is an excellent text for courses in world politics, democratic theory, and comparative politics.

Somit and Peterson seek to explain an incontrovertible, though hardly welcome fact: throughout human history, the overwhelming majority of political societies have been characterized by the rule of the few over the many, by dominance and submission, by command and obedience. Evolutionary theory provides an important part of the explanation: humans have been subject to natural selection and one result is that the species tends to feature dominance hierarchies, obedience to authority, and indoctrinability as various means of maintaining social order. These evolution-based behavioral tendencies help to explain the success of authoritarianism and the relative lack of success of democracy over time.

This edited collection explores how different dictators and authoritarian parties and factions have frequently succeeded in rising to power in modern Latin America, often retaining political and/or military control for long periods of time. The volume examines whether there are common factors within the Latin American sociopolitical, cultural, and historical context that have allowed authoritarianism to play such a fundamental and recurrent role in the continent's development. Including chapters on Mexico, Chile, Cuba, Paraguay, and Honduras, the work will be of interest to scholars and students alike in comparative politics, Latin American history, and Latin American studies.

A radical critique of Hans Kelsen's pure theory of law lies at the heart of this work, marking Voegelin's definitive departure from Neo-Kantian epistemology. For the first time, Voegelin elaborates on the important distinction between theoretical concepts and political symbols as a basis for explaining the nontheoretical and speculative character of ideologies, both left and right. He shows that total and authoritarian are symbols of ideological self-interpretation that have no theoretical value, a distinction basic to his later work in The New Science of Politics.

One of the first in-depth comparative studies of contemporary Indonesia and Malaysia, this work attempts to respond to the impasse of the so-called transition from authoritarian to democracy paradigm and adopts broader senses of politics, power, and authoritarianism, challenging our familiar understanding of gender, Islam, ethnicity and social classes.

Paul Brooker's text provides a comprehensive assessment of the nature of authoritarian regimes, their changing character in the post-Cold War world, and the main theoretical explanations of their incidence, character and performance.

This book evaluates the current prospects for democracy in the world. The author clarifies the concept of democracy, shows its application in different contexts, and questions whether democratic advancement will continue -- and if so, at what price. The consequences of democracy for economic development, human rights, and peaceful relations among countries are illuminated in both their positive and negative aspects.

The second edition features a new section on the prospects of democracy as we approach the millennium, an extended discussion on economic performance in the current democratic transitions, and an evaluation of the possibilities for further democratic consolidation.

A model of hope for teachers struggling against inhumane and authoritarian bureaucracies, applying Habermas's critique of prevailing technocratic schooling and its danger to the public sphere of reason.