Summary
Summary PLC3702 - Democracy and other forms of regime (PLC3702) Closed hegemony
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- University Of South Africa (Unisa)
Democracy and other regimes - Essay on Closed hegemony
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CLOSED HEGOMONYIntroduction
The term closed hegemony is used as an umbrella term to designate all forms of regime that
cannot be regarded as democratic. Thus the term closed hegemony can be regarded as a
synonym for “non-democracy” and therefore refers to regimes that are considered as
undemocratic.
The term hegemony implies domination and in this context it refers to the fact that the
authorities dominate the exercise of power without the participation of the people. The term
closed refers to the fact that most citizens are excluded from the political process – thus the
political processes are literally closed to ordinary citizens.
This essay will be discussing the advantages, disadvantages and characteristics of a closed
hegemony.
Body:
Characteristics
> The authorities are sovereign
> The authorities are accountable to themselves and not the people
> There is no effective participation by the rules in political actions and decisions by the
authorities
> Obedience is required of the citizens
> There is a top-down flow of information
Other varieties of closed hegemony:
There are two main subclasses of closed hegemonies and they are authoritarianism and
totalitarianism
Authoritarianism:
Authoritarianism is a very old form of regime associated with tyrants and sultans. Complete
loyalty and obedience is required from the citizens, which is usually obtained by use of threat
or force. If elections are allowed, they are usually not free and fair. Thus elections are used
as a mechanism to enforce obedience. Therefore it is characterised by a monopoly of power.
The individual is allowed to conduct their own private affairs – this is a characteristic which
distinguishes between authoritarianism and totalitarianism.
Examples of contemporary authoritarian regimes include states in Asia, Africa and Latin
America.
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