Ecoauthoritarianism (also known as an eco-dictatorship) is a

political ideology An ideology is a set of beliefs or values attributed to a person or group of persons, especially those held for reasons that are not purely about belief in certain knowledge, in which "practical elements are as prominent as theoretical ones". Form ...

which attempts to reconcile both

environmentalist Environmentalism is a broad Philosophy of life, philosophy, ideology, and social movement about supporting life, habitats, and surroundings. While environmentalism focuses more on the environmental and nature-related aspects of Green politics, g ...

and

authoritarian Authoritarianism is a political system characterized by the rejection of political plurality, the use of strong central power to preserve the political ''status quo'', and reductions in democracy, separation of powers, civil liberties, and ...

tendencies. It is justified by the belief of the inevitability and necessity of a strong

central government A central government is the government that is a controlling power over a unitary state. Another distinct but sovereign political entity is a federal government, which may have distinct powers at various levels of government, authorized or deleg ...

to preserve the environment.

Characteristics

In 2010, political scientist Mark Beeson defined "ecoauthoritarianism" as "the decrease in individual liberty as governments seek to transform environmentally destructive behaviour." Unlike ecofascism, ecoauthoritarianism can be utilized by both the

left Left may refer to: Music * ''Left'' (Hope of the States album), 2006 * ''Left'' (Monkey House album), 2016 * ''Left'' (Helmet album), 2023 * "Left", a song by Nickelback from the album ''Curb'', 1996 Direction * Left (direction), the relativ ...

and

right wing Right-wing politics is the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that view certain social orders and Social stratification, hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position b ...

. Proponents of ecoauthoritarianism generally tend to critique democratic measures by which

environmental sustainability Sustainability is a social goal for people to co-exist on Earth over a long period of time. Definitions of this term are disputed and have varied with literature, context, and time. Sustainability usually has three dimensions (or pillars): env ...

can be preserved, citing that an authoritarian governmental system would be consequentially more preferable than the preservation of individual liberties and

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

through liberal pathways. The common denominator in ecoauthoritarian thought is the focus on environmental sustainability and the belief that political plurality is incompatible with the attainment of this sustainability. Though other regime types are imaginable, the majority of scholars suggest a

meritocratic Meritocracy (''merit'', from Latin , and ''-cracy'', from Ancient Greek 'strength, power') is the notion of a political system in which economic goods or political power are vested in individual people based on ability and talent, rather than ...

system. Instead of a democratic rule, politicians would be chosen according to their expertise. Within green political thought, ecoauthoritarianism is marginal. Ecoauthoritarianism was inspired by ''

The Limits to Growth ''The Limits to Growth'' (''LTG'') is a 1972 report that discussed the possibility of exponential Economic growth, economic and population growth with finite supply of resources, studied by computer simulation. The study used the World3 computer ...

'' and its conclusion that there are physical limits to growth and that without dramatic changes in all areas of life, Earth is doomed to become uninhabitable. Newer ecoauthoritarian thought underlines the tradeoffs and

illegitimacy Legitimacy, in traditional Western common law, is the status of a child born to parents who are legally married to each other, and of a child conceived before the parents obtain a legal divorce. Conversely, ''illegitimacy'', also known as ''b ...

of unsustainable politics in a democracy. It emphasizes that democracy cannot be an absolute, since sustainability is a precondition for everything valuable. It shows how the

overexploitation Overexploitation, also called overharvesting or ecological overshoot, refers to harvesting a renewable resource to the point of diminishing returns. Continued overexploitation can lead to the destruction of the resource, as it will be unable to ...

of resources, given its consequences, must be considered as violence and that in fact, many issues cannot be subject to democratic decision making nor should they be subject to democratic decision making. There are many instances where the state already interferes and where interference is essential for public safety. Ecoauthoritarian thoughts are gaining traction recently, as some people believe democracy is an inadequate system to ensure

ecological stability In ecology, an ecosystem is said to possess ecological stability (or equilibrium) if it is capable of returning to its equilibrium state after a perturbation (a capacity known as Ecological resilience, resilience) or does not experience unexpecte ...

. Especially, the recent leaps taken by the

Chinese government The government of the People's Republic of China is based on a system of people's congress within the parameters of a Unitary state, unitary communist state, in which the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) enacts its policies through people's ...

are seen by some scholars as evidence for the superior potential of

autocratic Autocracy is a form of government in which absolute power is held by the head of state and Head of government, government, known as an autocrat. It includes some forms of monarchy and all forms of dictatorship, while it is contrasted with demo ...

governments when it comes to implementing good environmental governance.

References

{{Political ideologies Authoritarianism Political ecology Green politics Environmentalism Ecological economics Population ecology

Characteristics

See also

References