Authoritarian Dynamics Research Articles

The Fortress State: Extreme Militarization in Jordan

Abstract Jordan is one of the most militarized states in the world. Why? Traditional explanations hold that the kingdom’s bloated armed forces and security institutions reflect authoritarian dynamics and frequent regional wars. However, such popular arguments falter. Jordan has not been a primary combatant to any major conflict for a half-century, and it is no more authoritarian than other Arab autocracies. This essay instead suggests that militarization begets militarization. In political terms, Jordan’s coercive apparatus underpins the tribal coalitional bargain that sustains the Hashemite monarchy. It also paradoxically breeds the very domestic insecurity that it purports to prevent. By exhausting the economy, extreme militarization has spawned public unrest spurred by high unemployment and fiscal crises. And by necessitating a pro-Western foreign policy, it has attracted regional terrorism and triggered further domestic dissent. In sum, Jordanian militarization persists not from exogenous structural forces, but the deliberate choices of its political architects.

Estado del arte del autoritarismo en Honduras 1990–2024

This article identifies and analyzes studies on authoritarianism in Honduras between 1990 and 2024. Its aim is to understand the roots and evolution of authoritarian dynamics in the country, recognizing some background since the 1980s. It explores the recent political history of Honduras, primarily from a political science perspective, through a comprehensive review of existing literature on authoritarianism in Honduras during the period from 1990 to 2024. The work highlights the interconnection of political, social, and economic factors with undemocratic practices and is built on documentary review techniques, which allow for the identification, examination, and analysis of a wide variety of sources selected based on the credibility of the author in the field and the prestige of the place of publication. Regarding its structure, the article first addresses the background of authoritarianism in Honduras during the 1980s. Secondly, it analyzes the events in the 1990s and 2000s. The third section focuses on the 2009 coup d'état and its immediate consequences. As a fourth section, it examines the administration of Juan Orlando Hernández, followed by a fifth section that evaluates the effects of the pandemic on Honduran democracy. The sixth section addresses the administration of Xiomara Castro and the LIBRE party, while the seventh incorporates an analysis of the relationship between democracy and environmental authoritarianism. Finally, the conclusions derived from the analysis of literature addressing authoritarianism in Honduras are presented. ECA Estudios Centroamericanos, Vol. 79, No. 774, 2024: 65-96.

Authoritarianism and the Female Psyche

This article examines the impact of an authoritarian inner figure on the female psyche, framed within the historical and cultural context of Ukraine. This clinical case study of a young patient, referred to as “M.,” reveals how rigid self-defenses and a lack of genuine pleasure in life can stem from the absence of a father figure and an internalized authoritarian structure, which is associated with the Father archetype. Through the therapeutic processes of dream analysis and intervention, M. confronted her deep-seated fears of revolution, familial conflicts, and internal authoritarianism. This study illuminates the oppressive effects of authoritarian dynamics on personal development and underscores the necessity of fostering inner democracy—an internal sense of fairness and autonomy—for psychological growth and fulfillment.

Counterframing Truth? Interactions in Art and Justice in Post-Conflict Cambodia

ABSTRACT Authoritarian dynamics often produce a fundamental mismatch between what can be said publicly, and what is hidden and takes place out of plain sight. This raises the question: how do interactions between subordinates and the dominant shape artistic interventions in post-conflict Cambodia? This article explores the dialectical relationship between the public and the ‘hidden’ transcript in intergenerational art dialogues on the Khmer Rouge. It contends that interactions in art and justice create openings to circulate discourses, images, and meanings that differ from the public transcript, thereby, providing a means to defy the powerful and counterframe dominant narratives of the past.

Peacemaking in an authoritaraian context in Africa: Promoting peace from below in Cameroon

Abstract Cameroon, traditionally overlooked on the international peace agenda, has recently received increased attention due to mounting security challenges. Operating under an authoritarian regime that denies conflicts while promoting a narrative of stability, the course of international peace-from-below initiatives is profoundly influenced by this constrained political environment. Through in-depth case studies of three ongoing humanitarian crises—the Central African refugees’ influx, the Boko Haram/Islamic State West Africa Province insurgency, and the Anglophone conflict—this article contends that localized peace approaches, centring on grassroots reconciliation, may obscure broader structural issues, silence non-state political claims from below, and absolve the state of its responsibilities. Embracing such methodologies not only reinforces authoritarian dynamics but also exhibits a performative dimension, contributing to the establishment of a ‘victor’s peace’ in the absence of military victory.

A full ideology as driver for authoritarian dynamics: Comment to Populism and Civil Society

“Populism and Civil Society” is a rich book full of insights. I see three crucial overarching points the book drives home: one about the character of current populism, one about the causes, and one about the consequences. First, they define populism in a way that goes beyond the prevailing juxtaposition of the people and the elite. Instead, the definition involves elements of the ideas about a good order, including the central role of popular sovereignty, the symbolic representation and embodiment of the whole of the people, the strict borders between in and out, and a focus on electoral competition. Second, Arato and Cohen provide an explanation of populism that focuses on politics and democratic tensions. Third, the book points to “strong authoritarian tendencies that are almost always fully evident when populism achieves political power.” These propositions are right on target and very convincingly developed. In fact, they are very much in line with an attempt to account for “authoritarian populism” that Armin Schäfer and I have provided. Against this backdrop, I want to comment on the core messages by raising some questions about the details of these issues. It will become evident that this commentary is a case of sympathizing criticism.

Hidden family rules: perspective on a dysfunctional paternalistic system and the persistence of pain.

This article explores how paternalistic control and power reside within the family system and how this may influence pain and its persistence. Drawing upon clinical case studies and existing literature, this exploration emphasises the role of paternal dysfunction in creating emotional memory images and delves into how this may influence the chronification and treatment resistance of pain (i.e., making pain "sticky"). We argue that a dysfunctional paternalistic family system, often characterised by authoritarian dynamics, emotional neglect, and abuse, results in adverse experiences and emotional memory images that create a fertile ground for the entrenchment and propagation of psychosomatic symptoms, including pain. Further, the paper emphasizes the potential intergenerational effects of such a scenario, where inherited "Family Rules" drive maladaptive coping mechanisms, which contribute to the persistence of psychological and physiological distress across generations. Understanding these complexities offers new perspectives on treating psychological disorders and their physiological ramifications. It also highlights the urgency of addressing dysfunctional familial dynamics in psychotherapeutic interventions for both immediate and long-term psychophysiological health outcomes.

Populism and the political system: A critical systems theory approach to the study of populism

This article outlines a critical systems theory approach to the study of populism by arguing that populism is an avenue of contestation which assumes a distinct role and function in the existing constitution of the political system. Most notably, it is characterised by the re-entry of a popular sovereignty dimension within regular political procedures. By taking up a critical systems theory perspective, it becomes possible to more precisely distinguish populism from other forms of politics, such as oppositional politics, social movement politics or procedural constitutional politics. Further, populism’s oscillation between democratic and authoritarian dynamics can be elucidated as an inversion which operates from within its political form. Finally, it is argued that the critical systems theory approach provides a more nuanced understanding of populism’s inherent problems and, consequently, moves beyond a blunt defence or rejection of populism as such.

Authoritarian neoliberalism, crisis, and consolidation: the political economy of regime change in Turkey

ABSTRACT The aim of this article is to analyze Turkey's recent authoritarian transformation from a critical political economy perspective and to examine the main determinants of, what we call, the ‘authoritarian consolidation attempt' of the Justice and Development Party (AKP). For that purpose, first, we sought answers to the following question: why did the AKP engage in a more authoritarian political agenda in the 2010s? We critically review the literature on the contemporary dynamics of authoritarianism, particularly focusing on two explanatory frameworks, competitive authoritarianism, and authoritarian neoliberalism. We argue that the crisis of authoritarian neoliberalism did not end up with democratization in Turkey in the 2010s, rather the power bloc initiated a strategy of the authoritarian fix as a reaction to the multiple crises that were a combination of the state crisis and the crisis of capital accumulation regime. Second, we analyzed how authoritarianism in Turkey is en route to consolidation in the aftermath of the transition to the Turkish presidential system in 2018, and what the fundamental factors of this consolidation are. We investigated the main features of Turkish presidentialism following the three-dimensional framework of authoritarian consolidation, including infrastructural, despotic, and discursive power analyses. As a result, we suggest a critical political economy account to unfold contemporary dynamics of authoritarianism based on the Turkish case.

Public Sector Employment as a Social Welfare Policy: The “Social Contract” and Failed Job Creation for Youth in Egypt

Although the IMF and the World Bank have advocated public sector reforms for market-oriented economic development, Egyptian authoritarian leaders have avoided such reforms. Egypt maintains a large public sector with a significant number of young Egyptians among its ranks. However, the public sector has shortcomings such as overstaffed government departments, deteriorating working conditions, and employee protests. This study uses the “social contract” concept to understand why Egypt’s political leaders have preserved this inefficient institution. The logic of the “social contract” works under two conditions: generous welfare as the main source of the regime’s legitimacy and a lack of accurate information concerning the extent to which people can tolerate painful reforms under authoritarian rule. Contrary to the conventional understanding, a lack of democratic institutions imposes “shackles” upon authoritarian leaders rather than giving them wide discretion regarding policymaking and the manipulation of institutions for their survival. The findings thus offer important insights into the dynamics of authoritarianism.

The Idea of Corporate Transitional Justice: Paths to Corporate Criminology in Brazil

The essay aims to exam corporate complicity with authoritarian regimes of the past and contemporary practices for the purposes of developing the body of corporate criminology. The opening of Brazilian criminological research to the role of companies during the military regime shines new lights on corporate accountability and may, when investigating the corporate complicity with authoritarian dynamics, also open new avenues for the transitional justice studies. Especially with regard to the idea of Corporate Transitional Justice, it assumes the need for broader debates about the historical continuum and different forms of business contributions and aspects of harming and victimizing in the corporate field.

Democracy Under Attack: Challenges of Addressing Ethical Issues of AI and Big Data for More Democratic Digital Media and Societies

The potency and potential of digital media to contribute to democracy has recently come under intense scrutiny. In the context of rising populism, extremism, digital surveillance and manipulation of data, there has been a shift towards more critical approaches to digital media including its producers and consumers. This shift, concomitant with calls for a path toward digital well-being, warrants a closer investigation into the study of the ethical issues arising from Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Big Data. The use of Big Data and AI in digital media are often incongruent with fundamental democratic principles and human rights. The dominant paradigm is one of covert exploitation, erosion of individual agency and autonomy, and a sheer lack of transparency and accountability, reminiscent of authoritarian dynamics rather than of a digital well-being with equal and active participation of informed citizens. Our paper contributes to the promising research landscape that seeks to address these ethical issues by providing an in-depth analysis of the challenges that stakeholders are faced with when attempts are made to mitigate the negative implications of Big Data and AI. Rich empirical evidence collected from six focus groups, across Europe, with key stakeholders in the area of shaping ethical dimensions of technology, provide useful insights into elucidating the multifaceted dilemmas, tensions and obstacles that stakeholders are confronted with when being tasked to address ethical issues of digital media, with a focus on AI and Big Data. Identifying, discussing and explicating these challenges is a crucial and necessary step if researchers and policymakers are to envisage and design ways and policies to overcome them. Our findings enrich the academic discourse and are useful for practitioners engaging in the pursuit of responsible innovation that protects the well-being of its users while defending the democratic foundations which are at stake.

Reassessing Wilhelm Reich’s Mass Psychology: Libidinality, Authoritarianism and the Rise of Fascism

Explanations for the contemporary rise of fascistic attitudes and activism solely in terms of historical, political, and socioeconomic determinants, because they tend to assume the individual is a “rational actor,” are often limited in their capacity to account for the significance of individual enchantment with, and passion for, authoritarian movements. The article argues for the urgent need for greater understanding of the psychodynamic allure of fascist and authoritarian politics. In this context, Wilhelm Reich’s 1933 essay, “The Mass Psychology of Fascism,” is reassessed. It is suggested that he presents a valid and profoundly significant thesis when he points to the connections among the attraction and ardor for fascism, societal oppression of sexuality, and the individual’s libidinal inhibitions, conflicts, and frustrations. But his essay needs substantial correction and modification in three respects: (1) His ideas about “natural sexuality”; (2) his assumptions about matriarchal bliss; and (3) his pervasive heteronormativity or homophobia. The critique of these three aspects is primarily theoretical but also touches on Reich’s life history to the extent that it contextualizes his blind spots. Finally, it is suggested that, in subsequent psychoanalytic writings on the dynamics of authoritarianism and the rise of fascism (from Theodor Adorno and Erich Fromm, to Christina Wieland and Jonathan Sklar), far too little attention has been paid to the libidinal underpinnings of these phenomena, to which Reich’s thesis should draw our attention.

Derivas de la autoridad y del autoritarismo: el paterfamilias y la patria en el pensamiento de Hannah Arendt / Derivatives of authority and authoritarianism: paterfamilias and fatherland in Hannah Arendt’s thought

En función de esclarecer las derivas actuales del autoritarismo, emprendemos un examen crítico de los abordajes de la noción de autoridad en el pensamiento político. Rastreando las dos aproximaciones dominantes a la autoridad, procuramos mostrar la necesidad de complejizarlas, concibiéndolo como un fenómeno que se sustenta tanto en el reconocimiento como en la dominación. Sostenemos que se ha producido desde mediados del siglo pasado un fortalecimiento de la dimensión de la dominación a la vez que un desplazamiento desde el autoritarismo como forma de organización estatal hacia tipos sociales y modalidades de subjetivación autoritarias. Nos centraremos en la figura del paterfamilias y en la noción de patria en el pensamiento de Hannah Arendt como dos pilares para analizar la dinámica autoritaria que estructuran los modos sociales imperantes de relacionarse y forjar las comunidades políticas.

How Elite Politicization of Terror Impacts Sympathies for Partisans: Radical Right versus Social Democrats

The populist radical right is frequently engaged in intense political and normative conflict with their political opponents. Does this have a spillover effect on citizens’ sympathies for populist radical right voters and the voters of their political antagonists, and if so, why? This is a study of citizens’ affective evaluation of radical right and social democratic voters when exposed to intense conflict between the two parties at the elite level. It zooms in on the conflict between the Norwegian Progress Party and the Labour Party that revolves around the trauma of the 22 July 2011 terror attacks, in which a former Progress Party member committed two devastating attacks against the Labour government and Labour Youth summer camp. This is studied using a survey experimental approach, relying on panel data from the Norwegian Citizen Panel. Drawing on the authoritarian dynamics’ literature, it incorporates the four-item child-rearing values index measure of authoritarian predispositions which offers a personality-based explanation for why people react differently to threat. In contrast to the authoritarian dynamics’ literature, which has found that it is either authoritarians or non-authoritarians who react, this study finds that both authoritarians and non-authoritarians simultaneously respond to high-intensity political conflict. Whereas non-authoritarians rally in support of social democratic voters, authoritarians rally in support of radical right voters. Further differentiating between those with low and high authoritarianism scores, we see that low-authoritarians also become more hostile to social democratic voters. This indicates that conflict involving populist radical right parties is a driver of personality-based, affective sorting of citizens. Since personality is relatively stable, the resulting state of polarization is also likely to be quite durable.

The Symbiosis of Sectarianism, Authoritarianism, and Rentierism in the Saudi State

AbstractSaudi Arabia provides a compelling example of how sectarianism sustains the dynamics of authoritarianism, especially when bolstered by a rentier political economy. In this paper, I investigate three claims about the link between Saudi authoritarianism and sectarianism, as follows: (1) Governing with a sectarian ideology impedes political reform, since it disrupts cross‐sectarian reform coalitions by attacking the sectarian outgroup. (2) The presence of multiple sects, as well as hydrocarbon wealth, allows regimes like that of al‐Saʿud to use divide‐and‐rule tactics to maintain control; it also enables the funding of media and education outlets with the purpose of perpetuating authoritarianism, especially when the authoritarian dynamics are underpinned by a rentier political economy. (3) Despite the authoritarian and rentier dynamics in play, the Saudi government has at times sought at least a degree of inclusion of the Shia minority, depending on the political economy and the relative influence of Shia and Sunni Islamists. Using the existing literature on the Saudi state and historical examples, I aim to clarify the link between sectarianism and authoritarianism in a state in which the Sunni/Shia division, bolstered by a rentier political economy, has emerged as a powerful means of maintaining the political status quo.

Monetary integration in the Eurozone and the rise of transnational authoritarian statism

The negotiations over the Eurozone crisis have increasingly come to reflect Poulantzas’ idea of ‘authoritarian statism’, i.e., a decline in the relevance of democratic institutions and a shift in political power towards technical state apparatuses. Yet, scholarly approaches to transnational integration have provided little guidance as to why monetary relations have become such a pronounced point of condensation for the contradictions inherent in European integration. While mainstream theories of monetary unions such as optimal currency area theory neglect the impact of state power and class interests on monetary politics, more critical perspectives on transnational integration have paid insufficient attention to monetary governance and its role in the mediation of international relations. The present paper brings heterodox theories of international relations and monetary integration to bear on the increasingly authoritarian dynamics of Eurozone governance. Reflecting on Bruff’s discussion of authoritarian neoliberalism, we proceed to examine how the circumvention of democratic institutions via Eurozone monetary governance is more precisely captured through the notion of transnational authoritarian statism. We develop this concept in relation to two historical periods of European integration: the formation of the Economic and Monetary Union and the recent extension of the European Central Bank’s scope of monetary governance.

Sudan and the Unbearable Lightness of Islamism: From Revolution to Rentier Authoritarianism

The regime ruling Sudan since 1989 represents a pioneering experiment in the field of Islamist politics, being the first case in which a movement affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood managed to conquer power and hold on to it for a considerable time. During the late 1990s, internal and external pressures threatened the survival of the regime, leading the ruling class to abandon its ambition to represent a model of revolutionary Islamic governance. Oil exports provided a catalyst for this pragmatic shift, intensifying patronage-based relations at the expense of ideological affiliation. Seen from a political economy perspective, the Sudanese experience proves the flexibility of Islamism as an ideology, but also its failure as a political practice to constitute a real alternative to the authoritarian dynamics that are widespread in the MENA region.

Racial Diversity and the Dynamics of Authoritarianism

Past work on the political impact of racial diversity has focused on direct effects, demonstrating that diverse environments are associated with more negative—or in some circumstances, more positive—racial attitudes and race-targeted policy preferences. We show that diversity functions in a second way, as a variable that magnifies the political impact of individual differences in the psychological disposition of authoritarianism. Using a national sample, we find that in white areas with minimal diversity, authoritarianism had no impact on racial prejudice, political intolerance, and attitudes toward immigration. As diversity rises, however, authoritarianism plays an increasingly dominant role in political judgment. In diverse environments, authoritarians become more racially, ethnically, and politically intolerant and nonauthoritarians less so. We conceptually replicate these findings in a dorm setting with plausibly exogenous levels of local diversity and discuss the implications of our findings in terms...

In Search of the Amazon. Brazil, the United States and the Nature of a Region - by Garfield, Seth

Garfield, Seth (2013) In Search of the Amazon. Brazil, the United States and the Nature of a Region, Duke University Press (Durham, NC), xi + 368 pp. £71.00 hbk, £17.99 pbk. During the Estado Novo (1937–1945) the Brazilian authorities discovered the Amazon as a region that could, and maybe should, be incorporated in Brazilian development. This required a concerted effort to change its image from a ‘tropical inferno’ into a world of opportunities. To this end the government used the new media, from literature to radio and movies. Under the Vargas government the Amazon became a metonym of Brazil's natural treasures, ‘a region teeming with untold economic potential’. After the War started, this new imagery came to be connected to the need for primary resources of the allied powers, and especially the US need for a secure supply of rubber. When the Japanese forces invaded the Malayan peninsula in May 1942, the USA lost access to more than 90 percent of its rubber supply. The Amazon seemed to be the obvious region to replace this production region and between the two governments a concerted effort developed to increase Amazon rubber production. Due to the gathering methods of the seringueiros this was not an easy task and the conclusion that we can draw from Garfield's book is that this effort failed miserably. This is, however, not the core theme of his book. Rather Garfield sets out to understand how different perceptions of nature and society in the Amazon came about and changed due to these different (geo)political projects. The book starts with two chapters describing first the origins of the ‘estado novo’ project and then the changing US perceptions under the influence of their rubber dependency. These are rich texts that show how strongly the search of the Amazon was taken place in the context of, and determined by global transformations. Then the attention shifts to the issue of labour, which was indispensable for the development of the Amazon rubber production. The chapter delves into the social history of rubber tapping nicely showing how traditional practices were confronted by the new modernist ambitions of policy makers. The latter were convinced that the traditional, ‘inert’ rubber tapper had to be replaced by a modern and reliable worker who would be able to provide a steady amount of rubber. These ideas connected to the Vargas-regime's insistence on formalising labour (trabalhismo). The new rubber tapper should be soldiers, soldados da borracha [rubber soldiers], in the fight for Amazon development and war against Nazism. Part of the solution for finding this new working force was migration. The Brazilian government actively stimulated inhabitants from the dry and crisis-infested Northeastern provinces, especially Ceará, to migrate to the rubber producing areas in the Amazon. Ceará experienced a terrible drought in 1941 and 1942 and the desperate population was offered a solution in the rubber sector. This migration is the topic of Chapter 4, which may well be the most interesting one of the book, because it shows the contradictory effects of international pressures and national policies geared towards both more efficient production and the construction of a national identity. These goals were mixed with clear ambitions to ‘civilise’ the working poor. Garfield points at the repressive and authoritarian dynamics of these ambitions, but also emphasises that this migration was a genuine effort to implement social policies by the Vargas government. At the same time he stresses that, especially for the adolescents, migration also offered a way out of misery and paternalist control. The last chapter explicitly looks at US involvement in the Amazon and the contradictory images created in the process. The rubber soldiers were never really capable of providing enough rubber for the USA and with the end of the War they were left behind without any more support or attention. The book ends with an epilogue that analyses the imagery around the Amazon in the remainder of the twentieth century when environmental themes like deforestation and global warming took pride of place and replaced the focus on social and cultural improvement of the workers. It connects to the book's focus on imageries of the Amazon but for the rest does not connect very clearly to the previous chapters. This is an extremely rich and well-researched historical study that will be a benchmark for Amazon history for a long time. The focus on the international events playing out in a region that has often be portrayed as isolated is illuminating. A drawback may be that the last chapters show less coherence and seem to be more determined by the sources than the focus on the competing imageries of the region. This lack of focus is also reflected in the title which in many ways does not do justice to the rewarding historical analysis of the book.