One-party Dictatorship Research Articles

“Election Integrity” in a One-Party Dictatorship: A Vote-Rigging Scandal at the Leningrad Party Organization’s December 1948 Conference

Abstract In 1949, Stalin and his comrades-in-arms were rocked by allegations of voter fraud at a recent Leningrad party conference. Investigations soon revealed the conference’s electoral commission to have zeroed-out all the votes cast against the leaders of the Leningrad party organization. Outrage within the all-union party leadership in Moscow quickly transformed this scandal into one of the major catalysts for the last major political purge of the Stalin era, the Leningrad Affair. Aside from informing the start of this purge, the scandal also sheds light on the role that elections played in Stalin-era governance.

A Seemingly Endless Debate? The Establishment of Golf Courses in Taiwan

This study examines the spatiotemporal background of golf course construction disputes in Taiwan and identifies the factors that have affected the policies regulating golf course construction. Our analysis covers three main periods: the one-party dictatorship (1981–1990), the period of continuous controversy (1991–1996), and the period of missed opportunities (1997–2022). Herein, we review official government documents to construct an analytical framework based on three indicator streams, namely, problem, politics, and policy, as proposed by Kingdon (1984). The conclusions are as follows: (1) These three streams developed independently between 1981 and 1990. (2) From 1991 to 1996, political decisions were influenced by emerging problems, and policy options were not yet open. (3) From 1997 to 2022, there was frequent interaction among the three streams; however, when the policy window opened, the issue of golf course siting was ignored because other social issues had emerged, and golf courses were eventually excluded from the agenda. We also found that the factors influencing policy change are nongovernmental organisations, political parties, and stakeholders and that the ruling party plays an especially key role.

The problem of depoliticization of the Russian army in the crisis of the 1990s.

The object of the study is the policy of the Russian authorities aimed at leveling protest activity in the Armed Forces in the context of the protracted crisis of the 1990s. After the fall of the one-party dictatorship that subordinated the security forces, Russian legislation provided for a rigid model of de-partization and depoliticization of the Armed Forces. However, in the post-Soviet years, this strategy lost its relevance both due to the weakness of the parties themselves and the apolitical nature of the officer corps, tired of years of pressure from political organizations (CPSU). The problem was something else: the huge "Soviet-Russian" army, being a vestige of the previous system, did not fit into the paradigm of the new statehood, and therefore was subject to radical and painful reform, which threatened to put the Armed Forces on the brink of disaster. For thousands of military personnel and their family members, the most acute problem has become the elementary problem of survival. Historical, sociological, formal legal, institutional and systemic approaches are used as the main research methods. In the second half of the 1990s, against the background of chronic underfunding in the army, cases of spontaneous protest became more frequent. These actions were nonviolent, spontaneous and scattered in nature, and therefore did not pose a serious threat to the authorities. Among the main factors that restrained open rebellion, one can name the lack of an all-Army protest coordination center, the lack of independent political thinking among senior officers, and the lack of a constructive program. This also includes army discipline, as well as the availability of sufficient means for the regime to pre-empt and suppress individual pockets of protest. At the same time, the authorities, realizing that by condemning their military to a miserable existence, they themselves act outside the legal framework, tried to resolve the conflicts that arose cautiously, trying not to resort to harsh measures. The question of how long this delicate balance could have been maintained remains open. At the end of the 1990s, there were faint signs of a revival of the army. The military was one of the first to catch these trends: exhausted by the "five-year plans" of liberal reforms, after all the temptations offered to them by opposition parties, they regained faith in the state. The scientific novelty of the work lies in the application of an interdisciplinary approach to the study of a complex problem related to the restructuring of the Russian army during the years of unstable internal political instability.

Political transit in Germany in the 20–30s XX Century: background, Course, features

This article examines the problem of regressive political transit in Germany in the 20–30s of the last century, which led to the transition from the bourgeois-democratic Weimar Republic to the criminal terrorist regime of the Third Reich. The general theoretical provisions on political transit are revealed, the influence of political transformation on all components of society is analyzed. The course of changes in the way of life and militarization of the German economy is outlined, the homogenization of the political field that led to the establishment of a one-party dictatorship is described, the political and philosophical features of the unification of the ideological field are revealed. It is noted that the totalitarian nature of transit was postulated both by the Nazis themselves, who saw in the comprehensive absorption of society the benefit and expression of their own power, and by convinced opponents of the racist dictatorship, who rightly opposed total expansion, irredentism and anti-semitism. In conclusion, it is stated that in the sphere of power relations, the Nazi transit entailed the complete sterilization of the political field, the purification of space from competitive forces through intimidation and destruction, a change in the way of life from mixed to command-administrative with a bias towards militarization took place in the economy, a single nazi idea of racial domination was established in the spiritual and moral sphere the “aryans” and the apology of force, aggression and suppression was fixed

Titoizam protiv nauke: primer „kritičkog osvrta“ Zorana Janjetovića

The paper addresses the phenomenon of relativization, denial, and marginalization of significant historical facts from the period of socialist Yugoslavia in order to defend the stereotypical image of that era that exists today. Using Zoran Janjetović’s text from the first issue of the journal Tokovi istorije in 2023 as an example, the paper examines the mechanisms used in domestic historiography to ensure that historical facts do not threaten the traditional narrative about the history of federal Yugoslavia, which was formed during the League of Communists’ one-party dictatorship.

Guinea-Bissau: 30 years of militarized democratization (1991–2021)

In Guinea-Bissau, democracy replaced a one-party dictatorship regime exercised by the African Party of Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde for 18 years. However, the governing powers have still not abandoned all authoritarian practices of the replaced regime, even three decades after the beginning of democratization process, as attested by the results of the present study. The power of the armed forces to determine the course of governance, more than democratically elected political representatives, is one example. The study qualitatively analyzes this complex sociopolitical context marked by coups d'état and military violence during the thirty years of democratization (1991–2021) using press sources, international organizations documents, and bibliographies. The discussion demonstrates how the armed forces held the real power in Guinea-Bissau and how dangerous is this reality to the democratization, in a country where political organizations, actors, and the military do not distance themselves from one another in the subversion of the democratic order.

The Socialist Great Divergence. Why Mikhail Gorbachev Failed Where Deng Xiaoping Succeeded

Abstract While Mikhail Gorbachev opened a door for a possible democratic transformation of the Soviet Union, the economic and financial policies of his Perestroika led to state collapse. Those who reproach him for not having a coherent concept of economic reform often point to Deng Xiaoping, whose ostensibly more clear-eyed vision led China to prosper. Yet on a conceptual level, Gorbachev’s economic and legal arrangements were very similar to Deng’s; both drew on the domestic and international intellectual repertoires of market socialism. It was their political implementation under fundamentally different political, economic and social conditions that led to economic catastrophe in the USSR and to economic growth in the People’s Republic. A ‘Chinese path’ in the Soviet Union, including the application of political violence, may have preserved one-party dictatorship – but would not have provided the basis for an economic upswing. Gorbachev should be given great credit for rejecting such authoritarian market reforms.

Knowledge, power and school history in post-independence Malawi: A critical analysis of curriculum change (1964-2022)

Emerging educational research in Africa reveals an eventful course of development for school history curricula in post-colonial African states as they grappled with issues of quality and relevance in history education. In exploring the internationally little-known case of Malawi, the article takes a diachronic approach to retracing the process of history curriculum change from the country's independence from Britain in 1964 to the time of writing in 2022. The study proposes a systematic analysis of the content, pedagogy and assessment methods foregrounded by evolving history syllabuses in response to curriculum review processes over the last six decades. It also provides insights into the shifts undergone by Malawi's priorities and aspirations in the context of its legacies of European colonialism, one-party dictatorship and authoritarianism and its transition to democracy in the mid-1990s. Illuminating the entanglements of these processes with power politics and their contribution to the stagnation of the discipline of history, the article concludes that, although successive reviews have promoted curriculum change over time, they have failed to bring about meaningful reform.

Проблема департизации государственной власти в РФ после 1993 года

The purpose of the research is to consider departization of the top executive officials in the Russian Federation after 1993 as a systemic legal and political problem, which in the new his-torical conditions has acquired a slightly different connotation than in the late Soviet years. The subject of the research is contradictions related to the necessity of compliance of the top leaders of the executive bodies of the Russian Federation with the outdated legislative norms and require-ments to departization in the conditions when the objective situation dictated to the government officials and loyal governors the need to consolidate under the auspices of the new “party of power”. Scientific novelty and relevance of the research lies in the almost complete absence of works devoted to the study of the process of departization of the Russian executive power in 1993–1999, based on the consistent application of the principles of historicism, as well as formal and legal, systemic and problem-chronological approaches. The study of this issue allows us to better understand the roots of the contradictions of the modern political system of the Russian Federation. In the course of the study it was concluded that the time from the end of 1993 to 1999 can be considered as a certain transitional period when the society was gradually getting rid of the rudiments of the former one-party dictatorship, and the weakened post-Soviet bureaucracy had no incentives and resources to build a new “vertical of power”. Therefore, the legislation regulating the party and political status of the federal and regional chiefs was not distinguished by its integrity. This circumstance left the question about the prospects of official departization of heads of executive bodies of power.

Post-Tiananmen Chinese Liberal Intellectuals’ Political Uses of Confucian Tradition and Chinese History

ABSTRACT Recently, Chinese leaders’ and intellectuals’ use of Chinese history and Confucian tradition to justify the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) one-party dictatorship at home and advance its influences abroad have raised serious concerns and criticisms among China watchers and scholars. However, little attention has been paid to the anti-authoritarian Chinese liberal intellectuals’ reconstruction of Confucianism and Chinese history. This article examines the major reasons and approaches of post-Tiananmen liberal intellectuals’ turn to tradition. It argues that despite their internal differences and lack of rigorous argumentation, liberal intellectuals’ reconstructions of Chinese history and Confucian tradition are mostly intended to justify an institutional restraint on the authoritarian regime and engage in dialogue with different civilizations and refine, rather than replace, the existing liberal world order.

Человек во времени: Россия — последнее столетие

The last century is filled with victories and failures, passions, and interests. World wars and revolutions, the change of political regimes, ideologies, and ideological orientations — all this provoked a formation of social and political chaos, which sometimes had to be overcome in a totalitarian way through sole commanding and by one-party dictatorship. At the same time, one can observe the successes of cognition, culture, scientific and technological development, which, however, can hardly be called “progress”. Because the mass destruction weapons of certain “partners” in globalism have also been increased. Ready for self-destruction, “man in time” did not become yet the master of his destiny in the last century, but in many ways remained a mystery to himself. Despite the fact that over the past century man has learned a lot about his own psychology, consciousness and subconscious, he still needs further self-knowledge no less than in those times when the Oracle of Delphi called for it. Today, as ancient times, one needs to know better what motivates his sometimes rational, and sometimes, mildly speaking, very strange behavior. Who is man in time? To understand this, one must go beyond the limits of itself being to other times and spaces. Even to times and spaces of a cosmic scale, to the spaces and to the depths of our Universe, where a man was born and will disappear, perhaps preserved in its cosmic memory. The memory of the Universe is symbolized by world constants that arose as a result of the Big Bang and the birth of the Universe from a singularity point. Memory of man inherits this property of the Cosmos. The memory is a system-forming factor that creates man and its world. This is what rigorous science can offer to explain the cosmic origin of man and his memory. Artistic imagery can continue the efforts of science. Culture, literature, first of all, can create imageries that will tell about man and his time more than abstract theory. The imageries will tell that man has not yet lost his freedom of creativity. He must remember the past, live in the present, look and go to the future.

Portrait Under Construction: Lotte Jacobi in Soviet Russia and Central Asia

Traveling in Russia and Central Asia in 1932–33, the German-Jewish portrait photographer Lotte Jacobi produced an extraordinary archive of several thousand photographs documenting Soviet industrialization, collectivization, modernization, and, most profoundly, the revolution's human face. Yet she never assembled a photo book or other reflection about her experience. Based on a study of the archive in its entirety, this essay tells the story of Jacobi's journey through the lens of her photographs, building a portrait of the worlds in which she moved under the auspices of the Soviet photo agency Soiuzfoto. It discusses her portrayal of a diverse array of workers, collective farmers, peasants, street traders, intellectuals, and political figures, first in Moscow and Michurinsk and then in the newly established socialist republics of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, where she was hosted by leading indigenous communists such as Abdurahim Hojiboyev and Fayzulla Xo'jayev. The essay theorizes some of the key problems that her corpus raises: the relative weight of political commitment and external control in its production; whether it operates in a realist or mythic mode; the extent to which it presents Soviet Russia's role in Central Asia as that of a modernizing state or colonizing empire, as its tsarist predecessor had been; and the critical status of what she called “types” with respect to the nineteenth-century racist “type” photograph. A coda considers Jacobi's belated return to her Soviet corpus for the first time in the late 1950s and early '60s, a period characterized by a post-Stalinist thaw and the nominal end of the Red Scare in the United States, to which she had emigrated in 1935 in the wake of Hitler's appointment as chancellor and Germany's subsequent transformation into a one-party dictatorship.

Confronting past gross human rights violations in Ethiopia: Taking stock of the Reconciliation Commission

It is a trite fact that in the recent past decades, Ethiopia has been under a one-party dictatorship. The ruling political party encountered protracted civil protest and at times, an armed struggle. This has led to the overthrow of former party leaders and the dictatorship. The protracted protest against the party has led to change from within the ruling party. Thus, with the coming to power of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, there has been a widespread change in the political and legal landscape. Ethiopia has adopted various mechanisms including establishing a reconciliation commission as a means to reckon with legacies of a repressive past. This article takes stock of the major problematic areas of the Ethiopian Reconciliation Commission establishment law, Proclamation 1102/2018, with the aim to propose measures to be taken to rectify its blind spots.

A history of Malawi’s criminal justice system: from pre-colonial to democratic periods

This contribution traces the historical development of the criminal justice system in Malawi, from the pre-colonial period, through the colonial and independence periods, to the contemporary democratic period. It highlights the major political hallmarks of each historical period and their impact on the development of the criminal justice system. The contribution shows that all aspects of the current criminal justice system – substantive criminal law, procedural law, criminallaw enforcement agencies, courts and correctional services – are products of political and constitutional processes and events of the past century. Their origins are directly traceable to the imposition of British protectorate rule on Nyasaland in the late nineteenth century. The development of the Malawian criminal justice system since then has been heavily influenced by the tension and conflict of colonialism, the brutality of one-party dictatorship and the country’s quest for a constitutional order that is based on liberal principles of democracy, rule of law, transparency and accountability, respect for human rights, limited government and equality before the law. To properly understand Malawi’s current criminal justice system, one has to know and appreciate its historical origins and development.

Locking in fair weather friends: Assessing the fate of Chinese communist elite when their patrons fall from power

A growing literature shows robust evidence that patronage by high-level politicians greatly enhanced officials’ chance of promotion in the largest one-party dictatorship in the world, China. There have been few works on whether patrons’ exits, even when they were retirements, had an impact on followers’ career prospects. This question concerns the core theoretical issue of whether factional ties are self-reinforcing mechanisms. That is, patron–client relationships were only useful for patrons if they knew that clients would suffer if they fell from power. This mechanism creates strong incentives for clients to engage in political struggle on behalf of their patrons, regardless of the patrons’ monitoring capacity. We control for a range of unobserved heterogeneity and show that patrons’ exits from the political elite had a significantly negative impact on clients’ chance of promotion and also diminished their chance of retaining their incumbent positions.

Locking in Fair Weather Friends: Assessing the Fate of Chinese Communist Elite When Their Patrons Fall from Power

A growing literature shows robust evidence that patronage by high level politicians greatly enhanced officials’ chance of promotion in the largest one-party dictatorship in the world, China. There has been few works on whether patrons’ exits, even when they were retirements, had an impact on a followers’ career prospects. This question concerns the core theoretical issue of whether factional ties are self-enforcing mechanisms. That is, patron-client relationships are only useful for patrons if they knew that clients would suffer if they fell from power. This mechanism creates strong incentives for clients to engage in political struggle on behalf of their patrons, regardless of the patrons’ monitoring capacity. We control for a range of unobserved heterogeneity and show that patrons’ exits from the political elite had a significantly negative impact on a clients’ chance of promotion and also diminished their chance of retaining their incumbent positions.

Capitalism and democracy in the postsocialist transformation. Basic concepts

The collapse of one-party dictatorship and centrally planned economy based on state ownership opened up the pathways for the formation of different postsocialist systems. Among other variants in a certain number of postsocialist states, democratic capitalism could emerge. Recently the system of postsocialist capitalism has been going through the process of regression leading to a distorted and defective democracy and capitalism in some postsocialist countries. This essay reviews the literature on the relationship of democracy and capitalism in order to contribute to the creation of a theoretical framework for the analysis of the regression of postsocialist democratic capitalism. In the paper the argument is made that for the explanation of the regression of democratic capitalism, the structural analysis of postsocialist democratization and marketization should be supplemented with a theory that reflects on the role of political actors, the role of political parties, party competition in this process.

The Russian Revolution in the Contemporary Context

The Russian Revolution of 1917 went down in history as yet another classic example (after the French Revolution) of the general logic of the unfolding of the revolutionary process, starting with the proclamation of liberty and equality (in February) and ending with one-party dictatorship and terror (in October). The present article argues that the common cause of all revolutions is the absence of a legal and legitimate means of obtaining power by the political opposition. This forces the opposition to resort to force, even armed methods of capturing power, which in turn generates a new cycle of violence, sometimes exceeding the previous one. The only alternative to this development of events is the democratic procedure of free elections, which allows those fighting for power to shift from an illegal to a legal opposition, and thereby transform themselves from professional revolutionaries into professional politicians.

Admiring the peaceful political transition in Taiwan

Purpose Given the recent peaceful turnover of power through a highly participatory democratic election, now is a good time to consider Taiwan and its political development. Design/methodology/approach The author reviews how, over two decades Taiwan has undergone a remarkably peaceful transition from what was essentially an authoritarian, one-party dictatorship by the KMT to a vibrant multiparty democracy, a sharp contrast to what has occurred during the same period in China. Findings When the traditional ruling party of a country–like the Kuomintang in Taiwan– finds itself completely out of power and wandering in the wilderness, yet still manages to conduct itself with grace and dignity, and in so doing, allows the country to prosper – that affirms the stability and progressive potential of the country’s politics. Practical implications Not only has Taiwan’s economy seen a sustained period of fast growth over multiple decades, but the economy has grown without seeing a substantial uptick in economic inequality, a feat many developed nations have failed to achieve. Originality/value Taiwan’s two decades of political stability makes is an attractive commercial partner.

Whose Game Is It Anyway? A People's History of East German Football

Turning away from star players and secret police surveillance, this article provides a history of East German football from below, examining the role of the people's game in shaping everyday life in the socialist state. Analyzing issues of class, gender, and youth culture as they related to three aspects of recreational football culture—men's workplace teams, women's football, and fan clubs—it argues that the sport, like few other leisure pursuits, illustrates the complex relationship between politics and pleasure in a one-party dictatorship. Football was an unusually visible, versatile, regular, and unpredictable means of giving voice and agency to ordinary East Germans, a place of multiple networks (both formal and informal) from which communist power was often excluded.