Blog post due at 11:55pm on Feb. 23 and comment due at 11:55pm on Feb. 26.
Nondemocratic Rule
1. What are some of the essential differences between democracies and authoritarian regimes?
2. What are authoritarian leaders mainly concerned in their political rule?
Political Culture
3. Do you agree with Huntington that today’s world is increasingly characterized by a “clash of civilizations”?
4. How does political culture differ from political ideology?
How does political culture differ from political ideology?
ReplyDeletePolitical culture's typically carry deep seeded societal values and beliefs that have been long standing and are typically widely accepted among a given society. Political ideology differs in that new perspectives can be born individually and grow within a group of people. These ideologies can then begin to challenge or influence current political cultures. Ideologies may be born out of individuals need to fix current societal short comings. Some Democrats for example, may be in favor of a more socialist, universal health care system. While this is more of an ideology, the Democrat still will claim to be in support of the American political culture of democracy. The lines can definitely blur and have crossover, but at the root of it all, political ideologies can affect current political cultures.
I agree that the lines can sometimes blur between ideology and culture. The ideology of the government may impact or influence both negatively and positively. The culture of certain generations were more willing to follow the ideology of the government with minimal question or confrontation. As time has progressed I believe more recent generations of Americans feel more empowered to challenge ideology that has been the norm.
DeleteI agree about the concepts differentiating political ideology and political culture. The examples given really helped my understanding, I typically mainly associated the concepts with traditional "ideology" and "culture." (With culture being more widespread and ideology being subject to potentially smaller minorities) I understand that the ideologies are a part of the cultures, and the cultures are directly affected by them. The idea that political culture is "deep rooted" makes sense, as a widespread concept it would build over time.
Delete4. How does political culture differ from political ideology?
ReplyDeleteAccording to Political Culture and Public Opinion, political culture is defined as a set of attitudes and practices held by people that shape their political behavior. When we discuss political culture we refer to particular stances, such as our personal beliefs, everyday life choices, and personal judgement. Political culture holds a personal connection with the government that provides a deeper connection to society that can more than usually accepted. Political Ideology is defined and referenced as the belief system provided by others with the thought that different sources of public policy that should be arranged in a particular method focused around economy, social, and cultural based affairs. Political ideology is usually derived out of personal gain or within a group that share’s similar views on the task at hand. Some forms of political ideology would be communism, socialism, Nazism, and even Libertarianism. For example, Nazi ideology connected with the country on its economic downfall by offering free college to students studying within the country and used propagandas to rebuild the wealth of the nation. He pulled at the countries weak points to gain power that soon started a Holocaust. Most political ideology is rated/based on a spectrum such as left, middle, or right; where as political culture stands on a more historically tied governance.
1. What are some of the essential differences between democracies and authoritarian regimes?
ReplyDeleteThough there are quite a few differences when it comes to the minutiae of the regimes, the overall differences are few, but significant. In a democratic regime, elections are held and the constituents vote on their choice in office and a democratic regime also has a formal constitution that protects its' citizens. This constitution assures that the citizens are not taken advantage of by the government. However, in a authoritarian regime, there is a concentration of power in only a few people and the citizens have no say in who is in power, that is usually decided by money, and the authoritarian regime also relies on ideology, religion, and personal charisma as a source of a moral authority. This moral authority is impressed upon the citizens and expected to be mirrored back in agreeance.
2. What are authoritarian leaders mainly concerned in their political rule?
ReplyDeleteAuthoritarian leaders mainly concern themselves with control over government and its citizens. Leaders like Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, Stalin of Soviet Union, and Saparmurat Niyazov of Turkmenistan are portrayed as men who embody spirit of its people and are viewed in quasi-religious manner as well as all-seeing, all-knowing spirits of the nations. Citizens are brainwashed through media and advertising to believe one man possess admirable qualities to control every economical and social law within the state. While all power and control of a state is in leaders hands their citizens are suppressed and their freedom of choice nonexistent. To remain in power many authoritarian leaders use violence against any political opposition that might endanger their ultimate control of a society.
Yes I agree entirely with you on the fact that authoritarian leaders are primarely concerned with maintaining their control over government and the citizens instead of caring for the well-being and progression of the state. Authoritarian leaders maintain their power by limiting mass-participation instead of actually mobilizing the population.
Delete1. What are some of the essential differences between democracies and authoritarian regimes?
ReplyDeleteDemocracies, for example, the united states of america, we the people have a choice and can make a vote on who we want to elect. Also the constitutions were made so that government power was limited in that the government couldn't just take over, there are laws. Authotarian is when a person or a small group of people are together and have the power of the state. It is totally different than democracy in that the people don't have a say in what happens. They may have elections but the people of the land don't really have a say in what happens with who is running the country. The people of the state don't have as much freedom as somebody who lives in a democracy state would. These two are very opposite of each other.
Though we operate under Democracy rule and we vote in our president, sometimes it still seems like we the people don't have much say in what happens in the government. I'm not sure if this is because several people don't care to get out and vote or if this is really the case. There have been times during elections where it seems like the majority of the public support one candidate heavily and the other candidate wins anyway. I think it would be nice if the people could have a actual look of how the process works beyond voting at the polls and seeing numbers on tv.
DeleteIdeology and political culture seem very similar in the fact that they are both based on peoples ideas about how culture should be, but there are a few key differences between the two. Ideology is a value of beliefs often pushed onto the rest of the culture by an individual person or group. On the other hand political culture is a value of beliefs that people have learned from their own socialization. Since ideology is identified by coming from individuals it is more characteristic of ideology for the individual to be looking for some reward in the thoughts and beliefs that are being introduced to others. Political culture on the other hand is not necessarily set out to gain anything, but instead is learned and well known to all of society.
ReplyDeleteI like the way you put things into context here. I think ISIS would be an good example of ideology. They have there values and beliefs and are trying to force it among the whole nation and people throughout the world. They are trying to get people to buy into there beliefs. When people buy in the ideology gets stronger and stronger. All the attention it gets is what ISIS wants.
Delete3. Do you agree with Huntington that today’s world is increasingly characterized by a “clash of civilizations”?
ReplyDeleteYes, I agree with Huntington that today's world is increasingly characterized by a "clash of civilizations". People are growing more divided daily by their backgrounds and the division causes several things to fall apart in our society. For instance, Huntington discusses the divide with muslims and non-muslims. Each time their is a shooting or bombing attack where the culprit may or may not be muslim, the attack is automatically labeled a "terrorist attack" and the culprit is labeled a "terrorist". In reality, there have been several attacks on American soil that have been committed by non-muslim people but the media does not refer to them as terrorist attacks. For instance, in the shooting in San Bernardino in 2015, Syed Farook and his wife were immediately labeled as terrorist; however, when Dylan Roof shot 9 people in a church in South Carolina, he was never labeled as such. People of the world stand divided for many reasons. People are divided literally by religions. Some people hate others because they don't believe in the same God. Some people are divided because of their cultures or colors of their skin. People are also divided by wealth of class. Their are several wealthy people that hate lower class people. If only we were able to sit these differences aside, we could get past some major obstacles.
I agree with your point in regards to how people are growing divided everyday, but at the same time this concept is very cyclical. Civilizations clash due to their differences rather than focusing what could possibly unify them. That being said, clashing of civilizations is not a new concept. This has been happening for centuries. The cause being mostly the differences in religion which continues today. The difference today is how we have instant media heard round the world coupled with biased media outlets swaying public opinions one way or another which only intensifies the divide. Until religions and communities learn to stop fighting within themselves first (for example Muslims fighting fellow Muslims from different sects or Americans attacking other Americans), it will be virtually impossible to reduce the divide between the different religions and civilizations and create a basis of understanding.
Delete2. What are authoritarian leaders mainly concerned in their political rule?
ReplyDeleteAuthoritarians are concerned about what is more of a convenience to them."Unlike totalitarian regimes, authoritarian ones do not exercise command through new and ruthless institutions of their own.........with which they maintain and ambiguous relationship, often one of convience.(pg. 35, Palma)They don't really care about the citizens because they are forced to follow them rather they want to or not.
I do agree with Huntington that today's world is increasingly characterized by a "clash of civilizations". Religion is one of the largest debated topics in the world and is used to judge people. Religion has been a way to characterize someone just based on their beliefs. It doesn't matter their faith or what they believe this is how society has chosen to judge. For example, Muslims have been stereotyped as terrorist just because of the terrist attacks that have happened over the years. Now, this is not right, just because someone is Muslim does not make them a terrorist but this is what society has created.
ReplyDeleteI somewhat understand what you're getting at, but I disagree. Huntington doesn't take into consideration "inter-civilization" violence like the conflicts between Sunnis and Shiites in muslim countries, or even intra-national violence like the drug wars in Mexico. I think Huntington has done very well to make a coincidence, but I do not think it is because somehow completely different civilizations ghat this is occurring.
Delete1. What are some of the essential differences between democracies and authoritarian regimes?
ReplyDeleteThere are several key differences between democracies and authoritarian regimes. In my opinion, the primary distinction is that authoritarian regimes do not have to abide by a constitution. As stated in chapter 6 of the Essentials of Comparative Politics "Scholars define nondemocratic regimes as those in which a political regime is controlled by a small group of individuals who exercise power over the state without being constitutionally responsible to the public." An advantage to not having to follow the rules of a constitution is that policy decisions can be made quickly without having to deal with the bureaucracy of a large government. This unfortunately can become a double edge sword since the decisions are often not vetted by other branches of the government and can have detrimental consequences for the state.
Another major difference is that citizens under an authoritarian regimes have little or sometimes no role in selecting its leaders. This guarantees that political power remains in the hands of a few elite members of the society. As in the case of Cuba, this can cause a nation to become stagnant and isolated from the rest of the world because democratic countries often are unwilling to have diplomatic and economic relations with a country that is ran by a dictator. Although, it's not a perfect system I believe that there is very little room to argue that an authoritarian regime is an overall better system than a true democracy.
I agree with you Adam. Authoritarian regime eliminates constitutional rights and election of leadership. To me it seems like authoritarian government would be less influenced by certain interest groups because they are not in fear of losing power. Because of that lack of balance in government laws to protect certain economical advances would be limited. Also social advancements I believe would suffer because there is no true way for citizens to influence authoritarian decision/law makers.
DeleteDemocracies:
ReplyDeleteThey have an elected government by the people’s vote. They usually have rules and laws in place to limit the power of the government.
They hold regular scheduled elections.
They usually have checks and balance system in place to keep the power of the leaders in check.
Their power is spread out among many groups with interests – like democrats, republicans, big business, labor unions, etc.
They support individual rights.
They openly criticize the government without fear of retribution – freedom of speech, religion etc.
Authoritarian regimes:
They are led by one individual who is appointed, or if elected, it is a rigged election
This individual has unlimited power and makes the rules and laws.
They may not participate in elections or if there are elections, the elections are rigged.
They support very few individual rights – everything is all about bettering the state.
Not allowed to openly criticize and can be severely punished for doing so.
Ana I agree with your post. Democratic government is "for the people, by the people" and authoritarian government is based on "blind trust" towards a major authority. In Democratic government you have parliament, constitutions, and elections every four years; where in an Authoritarian government parliament and constitutions are rarely every present. A Democratic government allows more opportunities for a nation, where authoritative government only extends it's "freedom" to certain limits in order to maintain a particular process.
Deletei like how you listed it out as a comparison. It's like Authoritarian is the complete opposite of Democracy. Some people would argue that today democracy isn't as "for the people" as they used to be. This may be true but they still generally go with what people want or a general idea. It might not be what most people want but its still what some want. Democracy is definitely a lot more free then Authoritarian.
DeleteThe most fundamental difference between a democratic society and one under authoritarian rule is the value of the individual in the state. In a democratic state, theoretically, the individual has a direct contribution to determining the outcome of a political leader, whereas an authoritative state determines this via the control of the elite current political leaders. The democratic state involves each citizen in elections while the authoritative state uses political power to decide an outcome. Another key difference is the notion of freedom. Democratic states focus more on individual freedoms - the right to choose your own trade, make your own purchases, invest your own money in stocks, etc. Authoritative states concern themselves more in maintaining governmental power, placing the importance of freedom on shared interest - working to benefit the state rather than your own kin, as it would be in a democratic nation.
ReplyDeleteMy definition of political ideology does separate it from political culture, but mostly from the "technicalities" of what make these terms what they are. Political ideology comes directly from the people. Political ideologies can be the views spanning essentially any number of people. It may refer to a group of people with any or even no authority that actively explain or spread their system. There is also a social obligation sometimes pushed with political ideologies, which is where "political culture" and "political ideology" intercept. Ideology is a belief that someone holds, though it can be used in different contexts, spanning multiple people. Political culture can refer to a widespread political belief, maybe spanning political ideologies too. The term "culture" also applies to learned social norms and lifestyles, which also takes meaning in essentially any term with "culture" in it. Political culture though, doesn't necessarily describe what type of culture inhabits a span of land, but it is the term used when describing the state of a extensive political belief. It can be extensive in reference to an amount of land, or extensive in reference to the high number of people who share those beliefs. Political culture also refers to the actions and routines of people acting on their political views, similar to any other form of culture.
ReplyDeleteWhat are the essential differences between authoritarian and democratic regimes?
ReplyDeleteIn simple words when noting the differences between authoritarian and democratic governments, one can clearly see that democratic governments are run based on the will of the citizens whereas authoritarian regimes exercise unlimited power. In other words, the majority rule is present in democratic regimes but in authoritarian they are not. In a democratic regime, there is a clear distinction between state and society whereas in a regime that is authoritarian there is a representation of state and society as an entire social system all together in which politics affect the whole range of human activities
3. Do you agree with Huntington that today’s world is increasingly characterized by a “clash of civilizations”?
ReplyDeleteI do not agree with this. I believe Huntington to generalize too much; while I do see the merits in his theory and the lines it draws in his "Clash of Civilization," it does not consider the vast conflicts within each of these so-called civilizations. I think the theory is simply coincidental, and perpetuates the idea of divisive politics and the "us vs them" mentality.
Political culture is the set of attitudes, beliefs which give order and meaning to how we govern within the political system. An example of political culture in America is liberty and equality. Political ideology is a set of ethical sets of ideas, principles, doctrines, myths or symbol of a political party, social movement, institution, class or large group that explains how society should work and offers some political and culture blueprint for a certain social order. (Wikipedia) Examples of political ideology are absolutism, liberalism and conservatism. Political culture relates to the government and the perception of how the political system operates and will operate. Whereas ideology is more personal. It relates to our conscious and unconscious relations including goals, expectations, etc.
ReplyDelete