-----Mensagem original----- De: owner-lbo-talk at lists.panix.com [mailto:owner-lbo-talk at lists.panix.com]Em nome de Brad De Long Enviada em: terça-feira, 4 de julho de 2000 00:34 Para: lbo-talk at lists.panix.com Assunto: Re: RES: RES: RES: Korea's blessing
>About consent, all the governments work based on consent of
>the governed, even the majority of dictatorships. It´s simply
>impossible to govern based only in coercion
But with a disarmed people, a lot of coercion will get you a very long way.
-Yes, but coercion requires large military and security forces, and the members -of those organizations must be recruited among people. This is a double edge -sword as Nicholas II learned in 1917. What is the point is that massive coercion -works for very short periods of time. If you take Stalin for instance, you can -verify that 90% of repression (if you count fatal victims)happened in the -1929-33 (forced colectivization) and 1936-37 (great purges) years. In Suharto´s -case, it happened shortly after the coup. Out of those short and bloody times, -these regimens must rely on other methods, althought repression still plays an -important role. I would say that economic success is very important to keep a -dictatorship working. This doesn´t explain why NK and Cuba´s government remains -in power (althought Cuba achieved a lot if you consider Human development index) -but helps you to understand how Suharto and Eastern European regimens collapsed. -On the other hand, democracies are less prone to radical changes during economic -crisis, since the ruling class has more room to maneuver, avoiding dramatic -changes by supporting an opposition group that, once elected, keeps the policies -required by them (any resemblance with Blair´s UK?)
Alexandre Fenelon