EVIDENCE LOG #7 (1)

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Lucas Lombardo 9/18/2023 EVIDENCE LOG #7 Chapter 6 – Non-Democratic Regimes: Models Of Non-Democratic Rule The purpose of this assignment is to apply the concepts addressed in the text to the country you chose to study this term (if possible!). NOTE: If the country you have chosen to study is NOT a non-democratic regime, you may choose a different non-democratic country. 1. Please complete the Evidence Log below. CONCEPT DEFINITIONS/EXPLANATIONS Find supporting evidence in the TEXTBOOK to answer the question/define the terms. In addition to the definition, please also explain/analyze the term in your own words. Please include direct quotations from the textbook in each box. NO outside sources may be used in this column. Points will be taken off if the textbook is not used and/or if other sources are used.
PERSONAL / MONARCHICAL RULE What are the main characteristics of personal / monarchical rule? This type of system “rests on the claim that one person alone is fit to run the country, with no clear regime or roles to constrain that person’s rule (O’neil, Patrick) . The ruler of this state is not subordinate to the People or the State, rather, they are subordinate to him and any action he takes. Often there is no driving Ideology to this regime, instead the ruler justifies his Authority by claiming to be the only capable leader to be able to lead the Society as a whole. This will often lead to the development of personality cult within the country. Those below the ruler in the hierarchy are considerd the elites of the Country, gaining the benefits for being loyal which are not available to the rest of Society.
MILITARY RULE What are the main characteristics of military rule? Military Rule is an authoritarian regime in which political leadership is exercised solely by the military or parts of the military. They often arise during periods in which governments struggle with political unrest, waning legitimacy and modernization, by which time the “military has sometimes chosen to intervene directly in politics, seeing itself as the only organized force able to ensure stability (O’neil, Patrick) .”A military dictatorship usually arises through a coup that is directed against the existing order and the associated government. They are often characterized by the suppression of the political opposition. Military Rule often operates on a form of bureaucratic authoritarianism, where the leadership focuses on rational and objective reasoning when running the country instead of one relying on Charisma. This is done in order to create a technocratic leadership where the Government is cleansed of “emotional” and “ideological” elements that come with political parties and divisions.
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ONE-PARTY RULE What are the main characteristics of one-party rule? One Party Rule The system is One-Party Rule is “a regime in which a single political party monopolizes politics, with other parties banned or excluded from power (O’neil, Patrick) .” The dominant party holds sole government power in the long term, no legitimate opposition parties permitted. The party is therefore the only legal party and is usually committed to a certain ideology. One-party systems fundamentally contradict democratic party diversity. As a rule, one-party systems can only be maintained with state pressure against the population and with restrictions to the benefits its people may receive unless they join the party. They will often use its control over the political system to place members into every position of power ranging from Universities to City leaders, thereby increasing its influence. It will also use this influence to create a mass mobilization of its citizens to its Ideological cause through Propaganda.
THEOCRACY What are the main characteristics of theocratic rule? While the exact description of Theocratic rule is difficult to pinpoint, it is often summarized as literally “rule by God,” in which “the faith is the foundation for the political regime, such a regime can be founded on any number of faiths and variations within them (O’neil, Patrick) .” Most if not all its social norms are to be organized on the basis of religious doctrine the state tries to implement. There is no separation of state and religion, nor of secular law, and the state sees democratic institutions as either needing to be subordinate to the Religion or an outright contradiction. An example of an Theocratic Regime can be seen in Iran, where since the revolution, the country has been governed by a form Fundamentalist Islam. It is a state in which the ruling government is dominated by religious clerics and the Supreme leader being head of the Religious matters and head of Government.
ILLIBERAL REGIME What are the main characteristics of illiberal regimes? The most notable aspect of Illiberal Regimes is how “all the democratic institutions that rest upon the rule of law are weakly institutionalized and respected (O’neil, Patrick) .” The rulers of an illiberal regime can ignore or circumvent the constitutional limits on their power. They also tend to ignore the will of the minority, which is what makes a democracy illiberal. Elections in an illiberal regime are often manipulated or rigged, and are used to merely legitimize and consolidate the incumbent rather than elect the country's leaders and policies. Many countries considered Illiberal Regimes are classified as neither "free" nor "not free", but as "partially free". While they officially have the models of a functioning democracy, in practice they remain plagued by a real lack of checks and balances. 2. Which model of non-democratic rule does your chosen country most closely follow? For this Assignment I choose North Korea. The best description of North Korea would be a Personalist Dictatorship, with all the power within the country centered around a single individual. After the surrender of Japan in 1945, the Soviets occupied the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and created the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea), under the leadership of Kim Il-sung. Since then, North Korea has been controlled by an Authoritarian Regime ruled by 3 Generations of the Kim family, current leadership being held by Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un. The Kim dynasty, as it's come to be known, has “ruled with absolute authority, using heavy repression and a system of patronage that ensures support from elites and the military (Albert, Eleanor) .” The government is so powerful that the country is virtually isolated from the outside world, with even the movement of its citizens being heavily restricted. It is by far one of the most totalitarian regimes on Earth , with all powers centered on the figure of the Supreme Leader, as well as a large personality cult surrounding the Kim Family.
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Some may classify the country is also classified as a One-Party State, given that the Workers' Party of Korea is the founding and sole legal party of the Country. But the party is merely a tool in service of the Kim family to project and maintain its power. Its members are subservient to every action of the Supreme Leader and have virtually no power over policy making or even the selection of leadership. This is in contrast to China's One-Party System, which has no personality cult and which selects its leaders based on competence and loyalty to the Communist Party. In North Korea the ruling Communist Ideology has over the time been warped into a new one called “Juche”. Juche follows the ideas and philosophy created by Kim Il-sung, which advocates the nation's movement towards ideological autonomy through the construction of an economically self-sufficient state and protection from “Imperial Influence”. At its center, the philosophy holds that the Supreme Leader is the only one capable of leading the Korean people to prosperity. It holds that its founder Kim Il-sung, “was so uniquely gifted, so incredibly accomplished, that the only way to make one’s life better was to align your own will with that of the suryong’s (leader) (Beauchamp, Zack) .” By that extension, his family are the only ones capable of ensuring his legacy and the prosperity that he promised. In a way, Juche has become almost a quasi-religion for the people of North Korea, creating a society that worships the Kim family as if they are deities. In short, North Korea is probably the most modern definition and example of Personal Rule Works Cited 1. Albert, Eleanor. “North Korea’s Power Structure.” Council on Foreign Relations, Council on Foreign Relations, 17 June 2020, www.cfr.org/backgrounder/north-koreas-power-structure. 2. Beauchamp, Zack. “Juche, the State Ideology That Makes North Koreans Revere Kim Jong Un, Explained.” Vox, 18 June 2018, www.vox.com/world/2018/6/18/17441296/north-korea-propaganda-ideology-juche. 3. “North Korea: Systematic Repression.” Human Rights Watch, 28 Oct. 2020, www.hrw.org/news/2020/01/14/north-korea-systematic-repression. 4. Hotham, Oliver. “How the Kim Cult of Personality Came to Dominate North Korean Life: NK News.” NK News - North Korea News, 23 May 2023, www.nknews.org/2018/12/how-the-kim-cult-of-personality-came-to-dominate-north -korean-life/. 5. Bandow, Doug. “More Dictator Than God: Kim Jong Un’s Cult of Personality Is Going Strong.” Cato.Org, 8 Nov. 2019, www.cato.org/commentary/more-dictator-god-kim-jong-uns-cult-personality-goin g-strong.