1. Dictators and Leadership: Lessons from Stalin and Mao
- Author:
- Graeme Gill
- Publication Date:
- 05-2019
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Kellogg Institute for International Studies
- Abstract:
- The accepted wisdom about dictators is that they rule their political systems in an essentially arbitrary and willful manner. Their leadership colleagues are said to live in constant fear of the dictator, always vulnerable to his will and always looking to defend themselves against him. The leadership is shown as a Hobbesian “war of all against all” as the leader rules with no real restraint. This paper challenges that view. It will explain why such a view of leadership politics in authoritarian systems is inadequate, and will illustrate this by looking at two of the most egregious dictators of the twentieth century, Joseph Stalin and Mao Zedong.
- Topic:
- Communism, Democratization, Politics, Governance, Institutions, and Political Parties
- Political Geography:
- Russia, China, Eurasia, and Asia