Detailansicht

While the normative justification of democracy has been a central theme in the history of political ideas since antiquity, the justification of authoritarian rule has received relatively little attention. This book aims to eliminate this discrepancy. In an overview, the relevant contributions of political philosophers and representatives of religious and ideological currents are dealt with and summarised into seven types of authority: moral, religious, protective, rational, ideological, elitist and populist authoritarianism.

While the normative justification of democracy has been a central theme in the history of political ideas since antiquity, the justification of authoritarian rule has received relatively little attention. This book aims to eliminate this discrepancy. In an overview, the relevant contributions of political philosophers and representatives of religious and ideological currents are dealt with and summarised into seven types of authority: moral, religious, protective, rational, ideological, elitist and populist authoritarianism. The content The analytical dimensions of discourses of justification of authoritarian rule Moral authoritarianism: The rule of the scholars Religious authoritarianism: The rule of the priests Protective authoritarianism: the rule of absolute autocrats Reasonable authoritarianism: The rule of the constitutional monarch Ideological authoritarianism: the rule of revolutionary intellectuals and leaders Elitist authoritarianism: the rule of aristocrats and oligarchs Populist authoritarianism: the rule of the Caesars An overview and comparison of the discourses of justification of authoritarian rule The target groupsTeachers and students of political science The authorProf. em. Dr Dietmar Braun taught at the Institut d'Etudes Politiques of the Université de Lausanne in Switzerland.