Dictators And Dictatorships

Dictators and Dictatorships is a qualitative enquiry into the politics of authoritarian regimes. It argues that political outcomes in dictatorships are largely a product of leader-elite relations. Differences in the internal structure of dictatorships affect the dynamics of this relationship. This book shows how dictatorships differ from one another and the implications of these differences for political outcomes. In particular, it examines political processes in personalist, military, single-party, monarchic, and hybrid regimes. The aim of the book is to provide a clear definition of what dictatorship means, how authoritarian politics works, and what the political consequences of dictatorship are. It discusses how authoritarianism influences a range of political outcomes, such as economic performance, international conflict, and leader and regime durability. Numerous case studies from around the world support the theory and research presented to foster a better understanding of the inner workings of authoritarian regimes. By combining theory with concrete political situations, the book will appeal to undergraduate students in comparative politics, international relations, authoritarian politics, and democratization.

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Explains how dictatorships rise, survive, and fall, along with why some but not all dictators wield vast powers.

Why do some autocratic leaders pursue aggressive or expansionist foreign policies, while others are much more cautious in their use of military force? The first book to focus systematically on the foreign policy of different types of authoritarian regimes, Dictators at War and Peace breaks new ground in our understanding of the international behavior of dictators. Jessica L. P. Weeks explains why certain kinds of regimes are less likely to resort to war than others, why some are more likely to win the wars they start, and why some authoritarian leaders face domestic punishment for foreign policy failures whereas others can weather all but the most serious military defeat. Using novel cross-national data, Weeks looks at various nondemocratic regimes, including those of Saddam Hussein and Joseph Stalin; the Argentine junta at the time of the Falklands War, the military government in Japan before and during World War II, and the North Vietnamese communist regime. She finds that the differences in the conflict behavior of distinct kinds of autocracies are as great as those between democracies and dictatorships. Indeed, some types of autocracies are no more belligerent or reckless than democracies, casting doubt on the common view that democracies are more selective about war than autocracies.

"Discusses dictatorships as a political system, and details the history of dictatorships throughout the world" -- Provided by publisher.

This title examines dictatorships in world history from early Rome to more modern dictatorships in France, Russia, Germany, Italy, Japan, China, North Korea, Cuba, Swaziland, and Serbia. How dictatorships work, the political systems in which they thrive, and the methods dictators use to gain and maintain control are discussed. Also covered are methods to depose dictators, and life for citizens both during and after dictatorship. Important dictators are covered, including both those of ancient civilizations such as Lucius Cornelius Sulla, and Julius Caesar, as well as more modern dictators such as Napoleon Bonaparte, Joseph Stalin, Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, Fulgencio Batista, Hideki Tojo, and Mao Zedong, Kim Jung-il, Muammar al-Qaddafi, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Saddam Hussein, King Mswati III, Haile Selassie, Pol Pot, and Omar al-Bashir. Critics of dictatorships such as Alexander Solzhenitsyn are also introduced. Exploring World Governments is a series in Essential Library, an imprint of ABDO Publishing Company.

Shows that the most widespread and malignant dictatorships today emerge by attracting genuine popular support in societies plagued by crises.

"A book of great importance; it surpasses all others in breadth and depth."--Commentary If the past century will be remembered for its tragic pairing of civilized achievement and organized destruction, at the heart of darkness may be found Hitler, Stalin, and the systems of domination they forged. Their lethal regimes murdered millions and fought a massive, deadly war. Yet their dictatorships took shape within formal constitutional structures and drew the support of the German and Russian people. In the first major historical work to analyze the two dictatorships together in depth, Richard Overy gives us an absorbing study of Hitler and Stalin, ranging from their private and public selves, their ascents to power and consolidation of absolute rule, to their waging of massive war and creation of far-flung empires of camps and prisons. The Nazi extermination camps and the vast Soviet Gulag represent the two dictatorships in their most inhuman form. Overy shows us the human and historical roots of these evils.