Extent of a Social Base of a Political Regime as a Determinant of Its Authoritarian Nature

Abstract

Extent of a social base of a political regime as a determinant of its authoritarian nature. Political science features one specific trend. The authoritarian nature of a political regime is measured as if the latter is independent – using Marx terms – from its social and economic base and – using a common sense language – from the recipient of its benefits which are generated by triggering of the political regime's authoritarian component. This seems obvious in relation to political science, being the bad sheep in the family. In fact, borrowing from R. Heilbroner, political science was designed to disguise social order by the social system, to hide exploitation by exposing calculations and rational choices in the first place. For those who do not fall for the idea of political science aimed at analyzing the superstructure in isolation from the base, thereby failing to grasp the essence of the facts, it is obviously impossible to build a society serving workers' interests without dictatorship as it supposedly requires overcoming resistance from exploiting classes. Or is it possible yet? Apparently, there is a robust theoretical basis for nonviolent methods of societal transformation. To put it into perspective, the main question is whether it is possible to forge an equal and fair society of common welfare without establishing an authoritarian political regime serving workers' interests. Searching for the answer to this question, this research focuses on a more specific problem, namely the relation between the political regime's degree of authoritarianism and the extent of its social base. Ancient Greek polises of 400-130 BC form the empirical foundation for this research.

DOI: 10.5901/ajis.2015.v4n3s1p24