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Power & Choice, 8/e
W. Phillips Shively, University of Minnesota---Minneapolis
Autocratic Government

Chapter Outline


I. Introduction
  1. Examples of autocratic governments
    1. Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (1917-1991)
    2. Pakistan
    3. Saudi Arabia
    4. Democratic Republic of the Congo (Formerly Zaire)

II. Military Government
  1. Box: Are military coups contagious?
    1. Nature of coups
    2. Variety of political direction
    3. Why political scientists are cautious about assessing them
    4. Coups and development

III. Why aren't there more military governments?

IV. One party states

V. "Court" politics
  1. Less emphasis on rule of the law and more on the arbitrary whim of the ruler
  2. Heavy competition by other figures for access to the leader
  3. Unusual importance of apparently nonpolitical figures who have access to the leader
  4. Flattery and attempts to shield the leader from unpleasant reality

VI. "Power" and "choice" again
  1. Not an example of pure politics as power

VII. Conclusion
  1. Autocratic alternative "diverse" and "not necessarily stable"
  2. Probably best to think of democracy as "a mode of government that is used by many states some of the time but to which relatively few states are permanently committed."
    1. Example: Civilian participation in Nigeria's first military regime
    2. Example: Court politics in Nazi Germany








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