Authoritarian Period Research Articles

Can a developing democracy benefit from labour repression? Evidence from Sri Lanka

While a growing body of academic literature casts doubt on the wisdom of authoritarian responses to labour in developing democracies, few empirical studies demonstrate the adverse effects of excluding organised labour from the policy arena or repressing trade unions in the industrial relations arena. This paper draws on the recent history of state–labour relations in Sri Lanka to help fill this gap. Beginning in the late 1970s, the Sri Lankan government adopted a labour-repressive export-oriented strategy of development. The author shows how the repression of private sector unions during this period destroyed the legitimacy of traditional left unions and the structure of institutionalised bargaining that was in place prior to Sri Lanka's authoritarian period. This erosion of the system of institutionalised bargaining eventually led workers to shift their support to more radical, ‘new left’ unions and culminated in a wave of extreme and violent forms of protest that chased away much needed foreign direct investment. The chaotic consequences of the labour repression suggest two primary conclusions: (a) that prior democratic mobilisation may make labour repression untenable over the long term; and (b) that repression may backfire, creating bursts of highly visible and destabilising protest that undermine the developmental objectives of neoliberal reforms.

The Political Economy of Personnel Expenditures: Brazilian States, 1965-1994

ABSTRACT The main purpose of the paper is to test a model that explains variation in the ratio of expenditure with personnel in Brazilian states from 1965 to 1994. The independent variables include indicators of the political environment in the distinct states, such as number of veto players and level of political competition. Furthermore, variables that model the business electoral cycle and institutional changes during the period were also included in the model. The budgetary, electoral and legislative data were collected for 22 states from 1965 to 1995. OLS Regression with panel corrected standard errors was used to test the main hypotheses. Results indicate that the impact of political variables appears to be conditioned by the broader national institutional framework. During the authoritarian period expenditures with personnel were influenced by the electoral business cycle and by the presence of more than one party in the state legislature. In the democratic period, electoral vulnerability of state legislators and the electoral cycle are the most important political factors influencing expenditures with personnel.

The Political Recrafting of Social Bases of Party Competition: Chile, 1973–95

This article examines social cleavages and the impact of political legacies on Chile's post-authoritarian party system. In contrast to society-oriented approaches to party system formation, we argue that cleavage appearance in a party system depends on political agency, which can even (re)create social identities and social conflicts. The Chilean case illustrates this point; the structure of the party system is deeply influenced by distinctive political legacies of the authoritarian period. The cleavage between those who supported authoritarian rule and those who opposed it has powerfully shaped the party system during the new democratic period. In post-authoritarian Chile (1990-2001), a societal approach does not adequately explain the formation of cleavages or the contours of the party system. A class cleavage has appeared between the governing coalition and the conservative opposition, but this cleavage is politically constructed and maintained. The Chilean case also shows that it is important to examine the ways in which political elites craft party systems from above during the transition period. Political agency from the supply side played a decisive role in emphasizing or diminishing some of the political and cultural conflicts existing after the authoritarian experience and, therefore, an essential role in party system formation in post-authoritarian Chile. We have undertaken this enterprise of examining social cleavages and the impact of political legacies on Chile's post-authoritarian party system as a way of exploring how post-authoritarian party systems in general are structured. Because a party system is formed and/or re-established when democracy is restored, new democracies provide an ideal context in which to discuss theoretically important aspects of cleavages and the formation

Democratization, dispersed interest groups, and economic reform in South Korea: Understanding the decline of the “Chaebol Republic”

The 1997 financial crisis exposed serious weaknesses in South Korea's economy, with its heavy reliance on large conglomerates (chaebol). During the late authoritarian period, the chaebol arose through state guidance and subsidies, becoming the central players in South Korea's export-led growth boom. The early democratic period saw limited efforts toward economic liberalization. But these measures reduced state oversight while actually expanding the privileged access to credit enjoyed by the chaebol. The resulting investment distortions and financial weaknesses were the most important root causes of the 1997 crisis. The 1997 presidential election brought the outsider Kim Dae-jung to power. Kim launched an unprecedented assault on the credit privileges and corporate governance structures of the chaebol. However, the reforms have been compromised by measures to prevent a large transitional recession. It is argued that the overall pattern of ambitious but compromised reform is explained by two main considerations. First, Kim did not want to alienate “dispersed interest groups” (the urban service sector and agriculture). These want to conserve the favorable elements of South Korea's economic model while purging the dross. And at the same time, Kim wanted to focus transitional restructuring costs on the most hostile “concentrated interest group” constituencies (the chaebol and government sectors) of the opposition Grand National Party.

Old Parties and New Democracies

The democratization literature suggests a country's chances of successfully democratizing are improved by having an institutionalized party system that evolved before the recent authoritarian period. However, the conditions under which old parties established in previous democratic, quasi-democratic or authoritarian periods will benefit a new democracy have not been explored. If a party engaged in undemocratic behavior in the past, such as military alliances, election rigging or internal procedures that denied rank-and-file members chances for meaningful participation, then it may bring these undemocratic behavior patterns into the new democratic regime. The traditional parties in Argentina, Honduras, Panama, Peru and Uruguay are used to explore when parties bring undemocratic past behavior patterns into a new democratic regime, thereby hindering consolidation. These cases show that parties which experienced harsh treatment under an authoritarian regime are unlikely to continue authoritarian tactics such as military alliances and election fraud. However, traditional parties resist changing closed internal procedures that they utilized in the past, and thus cannot be relied upon to provide the mass public with opportunities for political participation beyond voting.

Democratic Institutional Design: The Powers and Incentives of Venezuelan Politicians and Interest Groups. By Brian F. Crisp. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2000. 294p. $100.00 cloth, $34.95 paper.

Venezuelan politics attracted little attention from political scientists for thirty years after the defeat of the fidelista guerrillas in the 1960s, but there has been a surge of interest in recent years. The country retained civilian, elected govern- ment through a dark period of authoritarianism in Latin America, which seemed to make it a good candidate for deriving lessons about transitions to democracy. In the 1990s, however, the democratic system entered into crisis. Venezu- ela experienced urban riots, two unsuccessful coups, removal of a president from office before completion of his term, rising electoral abstention, collapse of the traditional parties at the heart of the system, and the election of a coup leader to the presidency. Attention shifted from what went right to what went wrong. These books help us understand the limitations of the Venezuelan democratic model.

"O bom povo português": usos e costumes d´aquém e d´além-mar

Partindo do marco institucional português ao longo do Estado Novo e das obras de Mendes Corrêa e Jorge Dias, pretende-se, neste artigo, questionar as relações entre a produção antropológica em Portugal, o império e a nação. O propósito aqui é o de imbricar uma "antropologia da nação" e uma "antropologia do império" a partir da constatação de que, no caso português, "nação" e "império" correspondem a estruturas políticas e ideológicas que, ao longo do período autoritário, se confundem e, muitas vezes, se traduzem.

The Growing Threat to Democracy in Latin America

Does democracy have a future in Latin America and, if so, what is it? Only a few years ago, such questions seemed absurd. Democratic governments existed almost everywhere in the region, Cuba being the notable exception. Nowhere in the Third World did the vision of a New Democratic Order appear more promising. But things change. If we learn anything from history, it should be that bad times always return. Today, anti-democratic trends are on the rise, making this a propitious moment to assess their implications both for the region and for US interests and policy. Accordingly, this essay will cover a lot of ground. This is a big subject, as well as an important one, and it will be addressed here in several parts. The first section will pose three themes and a number of questions related to the growing danger. Second will be a discussion of the syndrome of authoritarian which poses one of the primary threats to Latin American democracy in the years ahead. Part three will offer some policy recommendations for both US and Latin American leaders before finally turning to a brief forecast of the future. The Growing Threat The first theme concerns the importance of democracy for US interests. Unfortunately, terrorism cannot be restricted to the violence of non-state actors. Latin American history is replete with episodes of state terrorism. Often, indeed, state terrorism has been a major contributor to the rise of guerrilla movements, as for instance in the Central American wars of the 1970s and 1980s. [1] In those cases, democratic transitions became a critical factor in defusing civil war. Today, democracy continues to serve as an important legitimizing force, inhibiting both state and non-state terrorism. Its decline would have ominous implications for the region's political stability. Second, democracy is not an all-or-nothing proposition. It is not a matter of either you have it or you don't. Rather, there are all shades of democracy, ranging from purely facade democracies, such as the now-demised Fujimori regime in Peru, to formal or procedural democracies, where you have relatively free and competitive elections and the institutional forms of democratic governance, but where other important aspects--e.g., a free press, respect for human rights, strong and effective legislative and judicial institutions--are missing. Then there are what might be called substantive democracies, where you find not merely forms and procedures but also human rights, a free press, effective legislative and judicial institutions, military subordination to legitimate, elected civilian authority, a healthy, autonomous citizen participation in politics--all the things, in short, that serve as a check on the abuse of power and give meaning to the concept of popular sovereignty or self-government. The question, of course, is how do nations move from a facade or procedural democracy to more substantive democracy? How do they broaden and deepen democracy? How do they foster democratization? A third theme is the notion that Latin American democracy is currently in some trouble. Historically, the region has gone through a series of cycles in which periods of democracy have alternated with periods of authoritarianism or dictatorship. And the question now is whether the present cycle of democracy is coming to a close. Has democracy reached high tide? Is it beginning to recede? Last year's troubled electoral process in Peru is only the most dramatic indication that something is terribly wrong. The rampant political and economic instability that Ecuador has been experiencing is another bad sign. In January 2000, the military there launched a coup, the first successful military overthrow of an elected civilian government in South America in almost a quarter century. Serious problems have also been plaguing Haiti, which has recently witnessed deeply flawed elections and now seems poised to descend into dictatorship and perhaps chaos. …

Where the Earth Touches the Sky: The Xavante Indians' Struggle for Land in Brazil, 1951-1979

Where the Earth Touches the Sky: The Xavante Indians' Struggle for Land in Brazil, 1951-1979

Nationalism and democratic construction: the origins of Argentina and Uruguay's political cultures in comparative perspective

AbstractThe article focuses on the different effects the formation of national identity had on the development of political democracy in Uruguay and Argentina. Uruguay's process of state building after the civil wars relied on political consensus regarding the rules of the game: the concept of political democracy became an integral part of Uruguay's collective identity. In Argentina, political elites after the civil wars divided on the question of national identity and the substance of political democracy. Uruguay's political identity as a partidocracia [rule by parties] is not a guarantee against authoritarianism, but the country's democratic political culture is resilient, permeating even the armed forces. In Argentina, the exclusionist character of the political process invites authoritarianism, whether of the liberal or populist‐democratic variety. This article focuses, first, on the different models of collective identity that developed after independence; second, on the distinct roles played by the two hegemonic parties in each nation ‐ the Colorados under Batlle and the Radicals under Yrigoyen; and finally, on the authoritarian periods both countries experienced in the 1930s.

Nationalism and democratic construction: the origins of Argentina and Uruguay's political cultures in comparative perspective

The article focuses on the different effects the formation of national identity had on the development of political democracy in Uruguay and Argentina. Uruguay's process of state building after the civil wars relied on political consensus regarding the rules of the game: the concept of political democracy became an integral part of Uruguay's collective identity. In Argentina, political elites after the civil wars divided on the question of national identity and the substance of political democracy. Uruguay's political identity as a partidocracia [rule by parties] is not a guarantee against authoritarianism, but the country's democratic political culture is resilient, permeating even the armed forces. In Argentina, the exclusionist character of the political process invites authoritarianism, whether of the liberal or populist-democratic variety. This article focuses, first, on the different models of collective identity that developed after independence; second, on the distinct roles played by the two hegemonic parties in each nation — the Colorados under Batlle and the Radicals under Yrigoyen; and finally, on the authoritarian periods both countries experienced in the 1930s.

Containment and Class Conflict: Us Intervention in the Colombian Labour Movement, 1950–1958

This article focuses on the interplay of domestic and foreign influences on the Colombian labour movement during the authoritarian period of the 1950s. As the study reveals, the decline of the movement during this time occurred not only as a result of unique internal factors, but also through the interventionist policies of the US State Department, American-based multinational corporations and the multilateral banks.

Demanding Democracy: Reform and Reaction in Costa Rica and Guatemala, 1870s-1950s

1. Introduction Part I. The Liberal Authoritarian Period, 1870s-1940s: 2. Between building states and agricultural export markets Part II. The Democratic and Social Reform Period, 1940s-1950s: 3. Demanding democracy 4. Addressing the social question 5. Organizing labor Part III. From Reform to Reaction: Democracy Versus Authoritarianism: 6. From opposition to regime-founding coalitions 7. Enduring regimes Notes Bibliography Index.

Civil society and democratisation in comparative perspective: Latin America and the Middle East

The literature on civil society and democratisation has concentrated on comparative studies among those countries undergoing a similar and, in many ways, simultaneous process of democratic transition and consolidation. But few have examined comparatively the question of democratisation in two regions of the world that have seen completely different patterns of political rule and evolution in the course of the past two decades: Latin America and the Middle East. This article is a response to a clarion call for more cross-regional comparative studies. While describing the political, cultural and socioeconomic forces that contributed to the emergence and growth of a dense, democratic civil society in Latin America, particularly during the waning years of the most recent authoritarian period in the region, the article delves into examining the four broad cultural and socioeconomic clusters of forces that impeded and shielded the region from Samuel Huntington's ‘third wave’ of democracy.

Representing German Victimhood and Guilt: The Neue Wache and Unified German Memory

Commemorating National Socialism and Communism from the perspectiveof 1989 often results in an uneasy conflation of Germanguilt and victimhood. When the events of 1933-1989 are presentedas one long authoritarian period, war and tyranny can easily be construedas external forces that simply befell the German nation.While memories of national guilt are divisive, memories of victimhoodunify and simplify an otherwise ambiguous past. The 1995restoration of Berlin’s Neue Wache is emblematic of this conflationof guilt and victimhood. As the central German memorial to all victimsof war and tyranny, the Neue Wache neither distinguishesbetween dictatorships, nor between perpetrator and victim.

The Legacy of Human Rights Violations and the Collective Identity of Redemocratized Uruguay

The legacy of human rights violations from the authoritarian period in Uruguay and the partial treatment of these violations under the democratic government have impacted profoundly the format of contemporary Uruguayan society. In order to trace this impact, it is necessary to analyze the legacy of human rights violations within the framework of the formation and reshaping of Uruguay's collective identities in general and its traditions of civility in particular. Uruguayan collective identities have been structured, even more than elsewhere in Latin America, through the state. Due to British international priorities and against the background of rivalries between Brazil and the Rio de la Plata, an independent state was established in the Banda Oriental del Uruguay by 1828. Since this time, the Uruguayan state itself has been creating the nation through a process of constructing a truly imagined

Federação, autoritarismo e democratização

O artigo analisa as relacoes federativas no Brasil durante o regime militar-autoritario, surgido depois do golpe militar de 1964. Sao estudadas as diferentes formas assumidas pelas relacoes federativas em diferentes periodos: na fase de maximo autoritarismo, que durou ate 1973; nos anos de liberalizacao, de 1974 ate 1982; e durante o ocaso do regime militar, de 1983 ate inicio de 1985, periodo em que o Estado entrou em crise e os militares foram impedidos de continuar no poder por um processo de democratizacao politica. Sao enfatizadas na analise as diferentes dimensoes das relacoes intergovernamentais (economicas, politico-eleitorais e militares). Tambem se discute, a luz da experiencia historica em questao, a pertinencia das interpretacoes correntes que identificam centralismo com autoritarismo e descentralizacao federativa com democracia.

Historical Cleavages or Transition Mode?

This article tests two propositions derived from European transitions to democracy on three countries in East Central Europe: Poland, Hungary and Czechoslovakia. On balance, the paper finds that new party systems seem to be developing differently in postcommunist regimes than they did in Southern and Western Europe. First, the political cleavages of the pre-authoritarian period that might have re-emerged after an interruption in democratic rule did not simply `unfreeze' after the demise of communism. Second, the type of transition - whether by reform or ruptura - does not predict how ex-regime parties fared initially in East Central Europe. These findings suggest that, at least initially, the pre-authoritarian period and transition mode are likely to be less influential in shaping party systems than is the legacy of the communist authoritarian period. They also highlight the particularly destructive nature of communist rule in East Central Europe, in that it may have altered the bases of social and political life to a greater extent than did other types of authoritarian regimes.

Partynomialism, bureaucratism, and economic reform in the Soviet power-system

Recent developments in the USSR demonstrate a new phase of political thaw in the cycle of oscillation between periods of hard-line authoritarianism and (relative) liberalization characteristic of Soviet policy since the death of Stalin. And as usual, the issue of economic reform lies at the heart of much broader questions concerning democracy and accountability in government. In a way, the connection between economic and political liberalization seems obvious enough. Because Stalinism is defined by the link between the command economy and state terror, it is hardly surprising that the ideology of market socialism has figured prominently in movements for reform in the Soviet powersystem. Nevertheless, the relation between economic reform and changing modes of party control remains a matter of much theoretical controversy. The nub of the dispute concerns the usefulness of assimilating state socialism to some version of a capitalist model, and then treating them as analogous social formations. The trouble with this procedure, as Goldthorpe long ago pointed out in his demolition-job on the "logic of industrialism,"1 is that it usually ends up as an appeal to some kind of base/superstructure distinction, ultimately derived from Marxian political economy. The model can vary greatly in degrees of sophistication, and in form (neo-marxist, functionalist, or marxisant), but the basic problem remains the same. The assumption is that, at the most fundamental level of analysis, communist and capitalist industrialism are homologous structures of power, so that the striking differences between them, in terms of class structure and political organization, cannot be explained, only explained away. In this essay I propose a way to analyze communist industrialism that takes these differences as its starting-point, and connects the explanation of conflict and change in the system to the dual and contradictory role of the party machine. The communist party-state is not just a form

Sources of Popular Support for Authoritarian Regimes

All authoritarian governments attempt to control the flow of news and information to the public-but with what effect? To answer this question, we adapt an existing model of opinion formation to conditions in authoritarian countries, validate that model on opinion data collected in Brazil during its authoritarian period, and, finally, use the model to derive expectatipns about patterns of regime support that exist in different kinds of authoritarian systems. The paper shows that support for regime policies depends heavily on citizens' level of political awareness. In general, highly aware persons are more heavily exposed to governmentdominated communications media, but are also better able to resist the propaganda they encounter. As a result, people in the broad middle ranges of awareness-who pay enough attention to be exposed but are not sophisticated enough to resist-typically are most susceptible to government influence. All authoritarian governments attempt to manage the flow of news and political information to the public. They seek, on one side, to fill the mass media with a steady stream of progovernment messages and, on the other, to stifle independent criticism and analysis. By these means authoritarian governments attempt to shape the political attitudes of their citizens. Since these governments rarely permit the conduct of independent survey research, no one really knows how successfully they indoctrinate their citizens. Can people who have been fed a steady diet of governmentcontrolled information maintain critical attitudes toward their government? What kinds of citizens are most susceptible to government influence, and what kinds are least sus_eptible? What theories can account for the observed patterns of susceptibility? Using opinion data collected in Brazil at the height of its authoritarian period, we develop answers to these questions. We find that support for the government's authoritarian policies tends to be greatest among citizens who *We gratefully acknowledge many helpful comments on the paper by Chris Achen, Larry Bartels, Henry Brady, David Collier, Amaury de Souza, and several anonymous reviewers. We especially thank Herbert McClosky, whose insights on the learning of political attitudes this paper seeks to extend. The research was supported in part by an Academic Senate grant at UCLA. The data reported in this paper were originally collected under a grant from the Ford Foundation and were made available through the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research at the University of Michigan. We alone bear responsibility for any errors of fact or interpretation the paper may contain.