Authoritarian Model Research Articles

HOW MODERN AZERBAIJAN WAS FORMED?

This article is devoted to the history of Soviet and modern Azerbaijan. The regime established by the Bolsheviks in 1920 in Azerbaijan was essentially an occupational one and was based on a repressive policy. S. Kirov, who was placed at the head of the Azerbaijan SSR, relied on Russians and Armenians. In the first years of Soviet power, the Musavat nationalist underground continued its activities. Almost until 1932, the Bolsheviks did not trust ethnic Azerbaijanis to rule Azerbaijan. Only in 1932, J. Stalin instructed M. D. Bagirov to manage Azerbaijan. This faithful Staltinist was previously involved in the massacres of Azerbaijani peasants and was tied to I. Stalin by blood. M. D. Bagirov carried out the Great Terror of 1937-1938. and repressions of the 40s. 20th century in the republic. First of all, the national intelligentsia became the victims of repressions. Forced collectivization and industrialization was carried out, which, however, led to a number of problems in agriculture and industry. The situation was somewhat corrected after the removal of M. D. Bagirov from power in 1954 and after the trial in 1956 of the organizers of the great terror. In the 50-60s. 20th century formed numerous humanitarian intelligentsia. In 1969, G. Aliyev came to power, having made a career for himself in the Soviet special services. In the 70s. 20th century he carried out purges against party members who came to power during the Khrushchev thaw and were guilty of corruption. Under H. Aliyev, Soviet Azerbaijan reached the peak of its development. In addition to heavy industry and oil production, agriculture and light industry also developed. M. Gorbachev's replacement of the Azerbaijani Communist Party leadership plunged the Azerbaijani Communist Party into a crisis. The Azerbaijani communists failed to adequately respond to the challenges from the Armenian irredentists and Azerbaijani national democrats. The People's Front in 1990 actually put Azerbaijan in a state of dual power. M. Gorbachev's attempt to keep Azerbaijan under the rule of the imperial center led to the bloody events of Black January 1990. In the autumn of 1991, Azerbaijan already de jure withdrew from the USSR. The inability of the communists to solve the Karabakh crisis of 1988-1991 actually brought A. Elchibey to power. However, neither A. Mutalibov nor A. Elchibey could cope with the political crisis that engulfed Azerbaijan in 1991-1993. Even G. Aliyev needed several years to build his vertical of power. The opposition was suppressed only in 1995. G. Aliyev was able to stabilize the economy and attracted investments. The authoritarian model made it possible to achieve internal political peace, while under A. Elchibey's democracy, Azerbaijan was in a fever. G. Aliyev transferred power to I. Aliyev in 2003. I. Aliyev liquidated regional clans in 2005 and further strengthened the vertical of power by concentrating power in the hands of his clan. The authoritarian leadership style made it possible to strengthen the economy and modernize the army. The apogee of I. Aliyev’s successes was the Second Karabakh War in 2020. The current president of Azerbaijan is pursuing an emphatically pro-Turkish foreign policy course, which was expressed in the signing of the Shusha Declaration in 2021.

FARKLI COVİD-19 PANDEMİ YÖNETİMİ MODELLERİ VE MODELLERİN ULUSLARARASI KABULLERİ: ÇİN VE GÜNEY KORE ÖRNEKLERİ

The Covid-19 pandemic has presented an extraordinary and unprecedented situation. Countries worldwide have been trying to find the most effective solutions to end the pandemic. Different approaches to combat the virus have emerged. Among these, China has become the prime example of an authoritarian model of virus management, whereas South Korea managed to slow down the pandemic with a liberal approach. The two countries, albeit both highly successful in pandemic management, have different and even contrasting images in the international area. This study analyzes how China’s and Korea’s pandemic management models and their international reception differ from each other. While both models were largely applauded domestically, in the international sphere, China, after early acclaim, ended up with a more negative and controversial image, whereas South Korea created a relatively more positively regarded model. Still, compared to the Korean model, the Chinese model was emulated and implemented by many more countries worldwide.

The fascist authoritarian model of illiberal democracy

Based on our observations and scholarship about how democratic norms are currently being undermined, we propose a model of fascist authoritarianism that includes authoritarianism, the production and exaggeration of threats, conspiracy-oriented propaganda adoption, and distrust of reality-based professions. We refer to this as the Fascist Authoritarian Model of Illiberal Democracy (FAMID) and argue that all components are essential for understanding contemporary antidemocratic movements. We demonstrate that all components of FAMID correlate with illiberal antidemocratic attitudes, that Republicans generally score higher than Democrats on the model components, and that all components significantly contribute to predicting illiberal antidemocratic attitudes. We find approximately equal support for both left-wing and right-wing illiberal antidemocratic attitudes. The fascist authoritarian model of illiberal democracy helps explain the basic mechanisms by which an authoritarian leader works to erode liberal democratic norms—and does a better job at doing so than simpler authoritarianism theories.

Illiberalism and post-conflict settlements with jihadists: a Malian case study

This paper draws on recent research in peace studies in order to analyse peacebuilding efforts with jihadists in central Mali. The paper explores two main streams of data: first, an exchange of messages between a Malian jihadist leader, Amadou Kouffa, and a Malian Muslim cleric; and, second, survey data on Malians’ attitudes towards politics and Islamic law. The paper also discusses what is known about a pattern of fragile, temporary, localised ceasefires with Malian jihadists. These different data sources highlight the poor fit between Western liberal peacemaking frameworks and some local conflict realities and aspirations, even amid a supposed ‘local turn’ in peacebuilding. Whereas liberal frameworks tend to assume that democracy, human rights, reconciliation, and secularism should be part of any peace settlement, some Malian elites and citizens appear open to illiberal solutions. These findings indicate substantial conceptual and practical challenges for the incorporation of local voices into peacebuilding agendas. The findings also add to an emerging literature on ‘illiberal peace’, which so far has focused mostly on top-down authoritarian models rather than civil society-driven illiberal compromise efforts.

Introduction

Introduction Rachel Bernstein (bio) [End Page 1] Over the last decade, China's presence on the global stage has shifted dramatically: the country is now an economic powerhouse and increasingly influential in international organizations. As China rises, questions also arise pertaining to its strategic objectives toward many regions and in many domains. China appears to be seeking a "loose, partial, and malleable" hegemony over the global South—making the African continent a strategic priority for Beijing.1 This Asia Policy roundtable is a result of a current research initiative at the National Bureau of Asian Research, "Into Africa: China's Emerging Strategy," which aims to better understand China's strategic ambitions in Africa and assess how the continent fits into China's envisioned global order. The first three reports in this project to date have examined China's expansion into Africa from Beijing's perspective, often relying on Chinese-language sources to draw conclusions and analyze China's strategy.2 Yet, only looking at Beijing's viewpoint to get a fuller grasp on China-Africa relations would be a gross oversight that would provide an incomplete impression of China's engagement with the continent. Africa is a continent with 54 countries and a population of more than 1.3 billion people. China's engagement with the continent, of course, does not have the same level of impact or influence in all these countries, and not all states share the same opinion regarding China's presence. This roundtable seeks to share, highlight, and examine African perspectives regarding China's engagement with and influence on the continent. The essays here provide both regional and functional case studies examining different facets of the China-Africa relationship from the perspective of African [End Page 2] states, ranging from medical diplomacy and infrastructure development to smart cities in Kenya and the Digital Silk Road to local responses to China's growing influence and image campaigns in Zambia and Mauritius. Cobus van Staden evaluates China's medical diplomacy as the Covid-19 pandemic becomes endemic. While China's mask diplomacy in the early phases of the pandemic was effective and garnered positive responses, its later vaccine diplomacy suffered setbacks. Although Beijing appeared to overpromise and underdeliver, he concludes that vaccine and medical diplomacy can be considered a diplomatic victory for China, compared to the West's disappointing and underwhelming response. Looking at another area of diplomacy and outreach, Mandira Bagwandeen discusses China's infrastructure investments and application of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in African countries as well as key outcomes from the Eighth Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in November 2021. Amid accusations of debt-trap diplomacy and the financial pressures of the Covid-19 pandemic, she finds that China has demonstrated some willingness to negotiate debt-relief measures with African states. Discussions at FOCAC, however, indicated that China intends to begin re-directing its development assistance away from financing infrastructure development through large loans and toward trade facilitation. Also under the BRI umbrella is the Digital Silk Road, which is focused on improving states' infrastructure for information and communications technology and digital capabilities. As Ovigwe Eguegu explains, the Digital Silk Road is attractive to many African governments, including Ethiopia, Senegal, Gambia, and Zimbabwe, due to China's emphasis on digital sovereignty, which aligns with their development priorities. However, obstacles, such as a lack of digital infrastructure, still must be overcome before the Digital Silk Road becomes fully popularized in Africa. Bulelani Jili also addresses technology development in Africa, focusing particularly on smart cities in Kenya as a case study. He argues that China's "no strings attached" lending practices, especially for technology development, create opportunities for technology to be abused in societies where few data and privacy regulations exist. Jili asserts that it is not necessarily the sharing of the technologies that is worrisome, but the local governance conditions that can enable unjust surveillance practices in smart cities and using smart technologies. Obert Hodzi examines the effect of China's rise and presence in Africa on democracy and development, looking specifically at Zimbabwe, Rwanda, and Ethiopia. He argues that while China does not promote [End Page 3] its authoritarian model, by highlighting...

Romanticism on the Right: Benjamin Disraeli’s Authoritarian Aesthetics

This essay turns an undisciplining lens on Benjamin Disraeli, the prime minister of Britain in 1868 and again from 1874 to 1880. I argue that some of his novels operate within a tradition of deeply conservative aesthetics, celebrating authoritarian models. I focus on Coningsby (1844) and Tancred (1847) to argue that they belong to a long Romanticism, opposing moves toward democracy, reason, and utilitarianism, and espousing values of beauty, passion, and eroticism toward authoritarian ends. Though Disraeli's conservative politics have often been localized as a part of the contest between the Whigs and the Tories, his novels offer a surprising template for a long-lived set of ideas, anticipating more virulent strains of hard-right thought and practice that would arise in the twentieth century.

Constitutional Struggles and the Court in Indonesia’s Turn to Authoritarian Politics

Indonesia’s politics has changed dramatically during Jokowi’s administration. Numbers of scholars argued this situation turns to a ‘new model of authoritarianism’ or declining democracy. The situation is generally referred to as the strengthening of authoritarian politics. Meanwhile, in such situation, the role of the judiciary is the key to balancing power in authoritarian politics. However, in reality, efforts to encourage constitutional struggle through the judiciary will easily reverse the situation to lose its independence. The court could play a significant role in authoritarian politics. This phenomenon has been called the ‘judicialisation of authoritarian politics’. This article dissects how the process of authoritarian political institutionalisation through law and the courts has occurred in the two decades after Suharto’s reforms. Then it examines how civil society changes and the democracy movement have made it possible to advance constitutional rights in the context of Indonesia’s cartel politics and the judicialisation of authoritarian politics. The legal argument for such judicial practice is that authoritarianism has been increasingly institutionalised, facilitating oligarchy networks in a cartelised political system, so that law and the judiciary merely work to strengthen the chain of impunity.

China and the World Bank—How contrasting development approaches affect the stability of African states

China’s development model challenges the approaches of traditional donors like the World Bank (WB). While some see this mostly as a chance, Chinese aid specifically and aid in general are also suspected of undermining developing countries’ stability for various reasons. To examine the effect of aid on stability thoroughly, we define stability as a continuum ranging from outright over social conflict to attitudes about democracy. We find no evidence that either WB or Chinese aid increases conflict in Africa using a comprehensive set of georeferenced aid projects and sub-national stability measures. Those results are robust and hold across different types of outright conflict, but also for social conflict. Overall, WB aid correlates more strongly with a reduction of conflict than Chinese aid. Moreover, WB aid is associated with a more positive attitude about democracy, while Chinese aid is related to an increased acceptance of authoritarian models.

АКТУАЛЬНЫЕ ВОПРОСЫ ИСТОРИОГРАФИИ ИСТОРИИ ЖУРНАЛИСТИКИ СЕВЕРОКАВКАЗСКИХ АВТОНОМИЙ ПЕРИОДА СОЦИАЛИСТИЧЕСКОЙ МОДЕРНИЗАЦИИ КРАЯ

The era of the formation of the Bolshevik authoritarian regime in the country (1917-1938) is the most studied segment of the history of journalism of the national regions of the North Caucasus. In the historiography of this stage of the development of the regional media system, three periods can be distinguished, each of which has its own characteristics. The first (1920-1950) is characterized by review articles published in specialized journalistic publications expressing the directives of the Bolshevik leadership in the field of press. At the second stage (1950-1990), a scientific study of the processes of the formation of an authoritarian model of regional journalism was originated, which was characterized by a one-sided approach from the position of Marxist ideology. With the collapse of the communist regime in 1991, a revision of the concepts of Soviet historical and journalistic science began. However, as for the studies devoted to the history of journalism in the North Caucasus, we can say that the problem is insufficiently studied.

Az 1939 és 1945 közötti Szlovák Köztársaság államfői tisztsége

The paper deals with the constitutional development of the independent Slovakia between 1939 and 1945. It focuses on the position of the president in the context of the Czechoslovak constitutional tradition and authoritarian challanges, which were typical from the end of the 1930’s. The problem of continuity and discontinuity of the state and law is also an important part of the paper. The Slovak constitution was adopted in 1939. The influence of the Southern-European fascist and authoritarian models were strong during the process of constitution-making, but the Czechoslovak constitution of 1920 also had an impact on the legislator. Although the president of Slovakia, Jozef Tiso arrived from the Slovak Catholic and autonomist movement, he became the symbol of pro-Nazi collaboration during the second world war. Tiso had two positions – he was the Slovak president and paralelly the leader of the Hlinka Slovak People Party, which was a dominant political factor in Slovakia. A special act regulated the position of this party and its leader in the constitutional and political system.

Radical Democracy and Educational Experiments: Lessons for South Africa from Brazil and Rojava

ABSTRACT South Africa faces several massive, interconnected challenges that reverberate through its political economy, society and education system. This paper offers lessons for the current conjuncture by exploring radical democracy and educational experiments in two other contexts: Brazil, as a point of close comparison, and Rojava (northern Syria), as a point for dissimilar comparison but which offers a “real utopia”. The Brazilian student movement (2015–16) involved several waves of mass school occupations in the “student spring” (primavera secundarista), with students demanding free, quality public education and, within the occupations, experimenting with democratic, dialogical, caring educational spaces. The Revolution in Rojava, emerging in 2012 and continuing to date, offers an alternative model of social organisation guided by women’s liberation, ecological harmony, and “Democratic Confederalism”, a form of anti-capitalist radical democracy. It has provided fertile ground for a profoundly different education system from the statist, authoritarian models previously imposed in the region. This paper draws out several prominent themes from each context, drawing these into conversation with the contemporary South African context. First, the movements demonstrate the pedagogical importance of language and culture, history and social dynamics, the decommodification of education, feminism and ecology. Second, they highlight the political importance of education for self-organisation in relation to broader processes of social transformation.

Does an enquiry for socialistic changes exist in Russia?

Objective: to study the problem of the request for change from the viewpoint of answering the question whether there is a reactionary desire of the least modernized strata of Russians to “return to the USSR”, completely abandoning the results of the “liberal revolution” of the 1990s.Methods: to answer the question whether there is a request for the restoration of the “Soviet socialism” in modern Russia, the materials of the all-Russian sociological surveys on a representative sample (mainly the pre-COVID survey of 2019), organized by the Institute of Sociology of the FCTAS RAS, are analyzed.Results: it is proved that, although the popularity of more authoritarian models of the state has been growing among the Russians in the last decade, at the same time, there is an active “habituation” to private property institutions and entrepreneurship. It is concluded that at present the main object of protest sentiments is not the exploitation of labor by capital, but bureaucratic corruption. This means that the high “demand for change” is objectively connected with the mass desire not to “return to the USSR”, but to complete the dismantling of quasi-socialist (political) institutions, which began in the 1990s, but then interrupted and partially canceled.Scientific novelty: based on the original databases of all-Russian surveys, non-trivial conclusions were drawn about the direction of the “request for change”, which controvert with the statement popular in the recent years about the request for the USSR restoration.Practical significance: understanding the direction of the mass request for change makes it possible, without waiting for a social explosion, to plan in advance those socio-economic reforms that best meet the requirements of the Russian citizens.

System Error: Where Big Tech Went Wrong and How We Can Reboot

System Error: Where Big Tech Went Wrong and How We Can Reboot

Authoritarianism: Change and Continuity in the Global Perspective

The article analyzes the specificity and distinctiveness of authoritarian regimes operating in a global network of complex and multidimensional international relations. The author of the article asks the question: to what extent the dynamically changing paradigm of authoritarian ideology is responsible for the occurrence of various types of tensions, rivalries, and antagonisms caused by authoritarian regimes, the effects and consequences of which affect not only national and regional political conditions but also cause severe international repercussions? The applied research method allows exposing the complex particularity of authoritarian regimes in the context of the multidimensional dynamics of recent geopolitical changes. It is crucial when a number of modern ideological trends often downplay the brutal nature of many authoritarian systems and even treat the “authoritarian model” – especially in the form of socialist autocracies – as a “specific historical phenomenon” trying to resolve many complex and multiple political and economic issues.

Authoritarianism: Is There a Future?

Author analyzes the role of authoritarian regimes in the contemporary world, he characterizes their specific features in the first place determined by their historical traditions and political culture. The author pays attention to post-communist, post-soviet as well as Muslim authoritarian models. Also, he estimates perspectives of authoritarianism for the future, its capacities for the survival in conditions of the modern world. How great is the potential of authoritarianism, how limited is it by its conservatism, and how open is it to innovation? What is the effectiveness of an authoritarian system in the context of global changes taking place in the world, which are largely determined by scientific and technological progress, communication technologies? The author tries to consider these issues on the example of the countries of the East. On the one hand, some authoritarian regimes are ready to adapt to ongoing transformations, including in the political sphere, for the sake of their survival. In their practice, they use democratic norms, allow the activities of parliament, opposition parties, while striving, however, to fully maintain their own control over the state. They are aware that the softening, liberalization of the authoritarian system can lead to its elimination. And therefore, on the other hand, authoritarians use any situation, especially its aggravation, to tighten their rule. Authoritarianism has existed in various forms at almost all times. It was formed on the basis of the political culture in which the title role belonged to the state, and therefore to those who were currently in power. In this context, current authoritarianisms have direct analogies with their predecessors. Some analysts tend to view each variant of illiberal government as a unique, "competitive" democracy, as a "hybrid" authoritarianism. Whatever definitions are offered, the essence of authoritarianism does not change from this. Taking into account the national specifics in each individual country, authoritarianism remains a global, one might say, inevitable phenomenon that will continue to exist in different versions, and may even strengthen its position, which is the case today.

«Русская почва» и «Великий Инквизитор». Концепции И. В. Киреевского в творческом наследии Ф. М. Достоевского

The article attempts to establish new links between the philosophical and journalistic works of I. V. Kireevsky and F. M. Dostoevsky’s sociopolitical program of «soil science», which the writer de-veloped in the 1860s and 1870s in his novels and journalistic articles. The following hypothesis is put forward: the ideas of I. V. Kireevsky’s «visible and invisible» Church, the role of dogmas and autho-rities in the church life infl uenced the formation of the ideology of Ivan Karamazov’s poem «The Grand Inquisitor» in terms of the conflict between the authoritarian model of the Inquisitor and the ideal of «apostolic Orthodoxy» that reflects the main idea of the novel The Karamazov Brothers.

O direito e a arte na resistência feminina ao autoritarismo patriarcal durante a ditadura civil militar brasileira

The relationship between law and art – apparently subtle – is intense. Law is a cultural product resulting from human conventions, while art, in its progressive bias, is a cultural product that questions these conventions to deliver life from the prisons that human beings create. The avant-garde artistic field contributes to breaking paradigms, as well as the female gender, which is constantly emancipated to deconstruct paradigmatic meanings. The woman increasingly comes out of silence and reports her experiences. From the perspective of law, there are very important historical events that can become institutionalized. The alteration of constitutional norms, depending on the context, can represent the gateway to authoritarian models filled with arbitrariness, such as, for example, the civil military dictatorship of 64 and, in particular, the AI-5, in Brazil. In the arrangement between law, art and gender issues, a powerful context for reflection appears. The hypothesis presented is that art is capable of converting tragedies into powers and, exposing the experience suffered by women during the Brazilian military regime in literature and cinema, it acts on the possibility of society overcoming traumatic experiences, while mobilizing the right to adapt to new models of human interaction, enabling – or at least not hindering – the nascent positions of female subjects in the social field. The research starts from primary and secondary legal sources, such as the analysis of historical documents, news published by the major newspapers of the time, examination of normative texts and reading of classic works.

Political institutionalization of conflicts: the possibilities of authoritarian and hybrid models

The article examines the problems of political institutionalization of conflicts based on the use of illiberal approaches (authoritarian and hybrid). The study is based on the concept of «illiberal peacebuilding», which is actively developed in political science and is currently used to analyze the processes of conflict resolution at the national and subnational levels. The study made it possible to determine the possibilities and limitations of these models, the specifics of the methods used and the achieved results of institutionalization. The author highlights the political and regime characteristics of the political institutionalization of conflicts, which directly depend on the prospects for using a particular model. In particular, it has been established that a set of rules and norms for the interaction of key policy actors is one of the foundations of a political regime. At the same time, conflicts are considered as one of the important factors in their change. The dependence of the direction of political institutionalization of conflicts (using their potential, limiting conflicts, etc.) on the perception of the conflicts themselves in the context of the stability of the political system has been substantiated. The liberal model assumes extensive use of the potential of institutions operating in the field of public policy. The authoritarian model is focused on suppressing open manifestations of conflict, while the hybrid model is focused on combining the norms and practices inherent in the liberal and authoritarian models.

The Portuguese ‘New State’ and the Diffusion of Authoritarian Models in Interwar Latin America

As an authoritarian ‘gravity centre’ in the interwar period, the Portuguese New State was not the product of strong propaganda or power capacity. Its force of attraction derived, essentially, from having an international means of diffusion: important segments of the Catholic Church's organizations, its associated intellectual politicians, and particularly from having led a corporatist and authoritarian political system model. How and why did Salazar's New State inspire some of the new political institutions proposed by radical right-wing elites or created by many of these regimes? This article tackles this issue by adopting a transnational and comparative research approach, paying particular attention to the primary mediators of its diffusion and analyzing institutional reform processes in selected processes of crises and transitions to authoritarianism in Latin America.

Signalling compliance: an explanation of the intermittent green policy implementation gap in China

ABSTRACT The existence of the green policy implementation gap in China has aroused widespread concern, and is frequently explained with officials’ characteristics, problematic institutions, and citizens’ participation. However, few studies have noticed the intermittence of the gap. By coding six media signals and 394 documents issued by the central government (2000–2015) from 27 items in dimensions of credibility/reliability, intensity, and clarity according to the signalling theory, causes of the intermittence were explored. I found that central signals are the driving force. Document signals work better than media signals, particularly in Hu Jintao’s era. Documents’ credible commitments, threats, legal effects, issuing departments, wording intensity, clear definition of departments and society’s responsibilities, and regulation targets can significantly stimulate local governments’ environmental regulation behaviours, especially in eastern China. In Xi Jinping’s era, credible commitments and environmental campaigns’ impacts are higher. The paper demonstrates how, where and when China’s model of environmental authoritarianism is effective.