August 26, 2009A. Gaffar Peang-Meth
Pacific Daily News
Click here to read the PDF report
In an authoritarian regime, political power is concentrated in an authority not responsible nor responsive to the people. Such a system is the polar opposite of a democracy.In a June posting in Foreign Policy Online, Freedom House executive director Jennifer Windsor, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty president Jeffrey Gedmin and Radio Free Asia president Libby Liu warned in "Authoritarianism's New Wave," that our current international system based on the rule of law, human rights and open expression, is being confronted by a "most serious challenge" from modern authoritarian regimes in "updated, sophisticated, and lavishly funded ways."
In the 94-page study, "Undermining Democracy: 21st Century Authoritarians," experts from the three institutions analyze strategies and methods used by China, Iran, Pakistan, Russia and Venezuela "to impede human rights and democratic development" in their countries and abroad. Windsor, Gedmin and Liu expressed their concerns that "policymakers do not appear to appreciate the dangers these 21st century authoritarian models pose to democracy and rule of law around the world."
The study reveals that the 21st century authoritarians, like the traditional ones, manipulate the "legal system, media control, and outright fear" and protect their power by "rewarding loyalists and punishing opponents without regard to due process."
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