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Imagocracy (from the
Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...
''imagocracia'') is a form of governance where
censorship Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governmen ...
and
propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded l ...
—particularly through
media manipulation Media manipulation refers to orchestrated campaigns in which actors exploit the distinctive features of broadcasting mass communications or digital media platforms to mislead, misinform, or create a narrative that advances their interests and ag ...
—rather than violent coercion, influence
public opinion Public opinion, or popular opinion, is the collective opinion on a specific topic or voting intention relevant to society. It is the people's views on matters affecting them. In the 21st century, public opinion is widely thought to be heavily ...
to maintain power. In an imagocracy, primarily observed in so-called informational autocracies or spin dictatorships, the focus is on propaganda techniques such as
spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spin (physics) or particle spin, a fundamental property of elementary particles * Spin quantum number, a number which defines the value of a particle's spin * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thr ...
,
disinformation Disinformation is misleading content deliberately spread to deceive people, or to secure economic or political gain and which may cause public harm. Disinformation is an orchestrated adversarial activity in which actors employ strategic dece ...
, and maintaining psychological control by instilling fear of the ' Other.' An ''informational autocracy'' does not use violence or direct repression on its political opponents. It also creates its own institutions that mimic democratic institutions. The final characteristic of these regimes is that they have little support with the educated elite, but have wide support among the less-educated masses.


Etymology

The term ''imagocracy'' was likely first coined in Spanish (as ''imagocracia'') by Peruvian politician Manuel Dammert in 2001 to describe
Alberto Fujimori Alberto Kenji Fujimori Fujimori (26 July 1938 – 11 September 2024) was a Peruvian politician, professor, and engineer who served as the 54th president of Peru from 1990 to 2000.* * * * * * * Born in Lima, Fujimori was the country's fir ...
's style of governance:
A dictatorship that constructs and dominates the images of social life to perpetuate the hidden power of a corrupt mafia that keeps sterilized the vacuous institutions of representative democracy ... its source of power lies in the domination of the image, whose representation alienates individuals. This social relation, converted into everyday routine and instituted as the vortex of social reproduction is the foundation of its existence as a dictatorship and the engine that calls for its perpetuation.
The ''informational autocracy'' concept was proposed by Russian economist
Sergey Guriyev Sergei Maratovich Guriev (, ; born 21 October 1971) is a Russian economist, currently serving as the 10th dean and a professor of economics at the London Business School since August 2024. Previously at Sciences Po, he served as provost from 2 ...
and British-American political scientist Daniel Treisman in a 2020 paper (later as ''spin dictatorship'' in their 2022 book):
Dictators survive not by means of force or ideology but because they convince the public—rightly or wrongly—that they are competent. Citizens do not observe the leader's type but infer it from signals in their living standards, state propaganda, and messages sent by an informed elite via independent media. If citizens conclude that the leader is incompetent, they overthrow him. The dictator can invest in making convincing state propaganda, censoring independent media, co-opting the elite, or equipping police to repress attempted uprisings—but he must finance such spending at the expense of the public's consumption.


Regimes


Alberto Fujimori's Peru

Alberto Fujimori Alberto Kenji Fujimori Fujimori (26 July 1938 – 11 September 2024) was a Peruvian politician, professor, and engineer who served as the 54th president of Peru from 1990 to 2000.* * * * * * * Born in Lima, Fujimori was the country's fir ...
's Peru is considered the world's first imagocratic dictatorship. Its reliance on the
yellow press Yellow is the color between green and orange on the spectrum of light. It is evoked by light with a dominant wavelength of roughly 575585 nm. It is a primary color in subtractive color systems, used in painting or color printing. In ...
, rather than open repression, to destroy political opposition—contrary to the historical norm in Latin America—has been particularly noted.


Media manipulation - ''Fujimedia''

"By controlling the media, one controlled the ratings. And by controlling the ratings, one controlled politics."
Alberto Fujimori's campaign against the
Shining Path The Shining Path (, SL), self-named the Communist Party of Peru (, abbr. PCP), is a far-left political party and guerrilla group in Peru, following Marxism–Leninism–Maoism and Gonzalo Thought. Academics often refer to the group as the ...
, a Maoist guerrilla group, was marked by harsh measures, including the stigmatization of the Andean population as "leftist terrorists". This strategy exploited historical biases against small ethnic minorities, particularly those associated with terrorism, allowing Fujimori to leverage public fear to his political advantage. His administration faced severe criticism from human rights organizations, which accused the government of being complicit in the murder of journalists by right-wing paramilitary groups. In response, Fujimori labeled these activists as the "legal arm" of terrorism and issued threats of life imprisonment for those who criticized the military. Fujimori also cultivated an image as a
technocratic Technocracy is a form of government in which decision-makers appoint knowledge experts in specific domains to provide them with advice and guidance in various areas of their policy-making responsibilities. Technocracy follows largely in the tra ...
leader, preferring the title of "manager" over that of politician, to project a blend of visionary leadership and administrative efficiency. Alongside his security chief,
Vladimiro Montesinos Vladimiro Lenin Ilich Montesinos Torres (; born May 20, 1945) is a Peruvian former intelligence officer and lawyer, most notorious for his role as the head of Peru's National Intelligence Service (SIN) during the presidency of Alberto Fujimor ...
—often considered the true
power behind the throne The phrase "power behind the throne" refers to a person or group that is understood to ''de facto'' wield the power of a high-ranking official (originally, and hence the name, a monarch), or whose support must be maintained to continue in office. ...
—Fujimori used media manipulation as a key tool in his governance. Instead of relying solely on slander against political rivals, Fujimori sought to co-opt media owners. By the early 1990s, six of Peru's seven major television stations were privately owned, and Montesinos bribed these media moguls to ensure self-censorship and favorable coverage of the government. By the end of the decade, Montesinos was paying over $3 million per month to these television stations for their cooperation. Despite their official independence, these outlets maintained only a superficial appearance of objectivity. The regime further benefited from the creative talents of the private sector's producers and writers, who indirectly supported the government's messaging. Fujimori extended his control beyond news, effectively weaponizing entertainment to shape public perception and consolidate his power.


Censorship and coercion

The strategies employed by spin dictators like Fujimori marked a departure from the traditional methods of
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 ...
control characterized by overt censorship and the use of fear. Historically,
dictators A dictator is a political leader who possesses absolute Power (social and political), power. A dictatorship is a state ruled by one dictator or by a polity. The word originated as the title of a Roman dictator elected by the Roman Senate to r ...
sought to wield absolute power, but Fujimori's approach was deliberately nuanced and covert. In the context of a globalized economy, maintaining an absolute monopoly on information was increasingly seen as counterproductive, as it could hinder progress and draw unwanted attention. Fujimori recognized that a total information monopoly was not only unnecessary but also undesirable, as it could provoke public curiosity and inadvertently spread the very information the regime sought to suppress—a phenomenon later known as the
Streisand effect The Streisand effect is an unintended consequences, unintended consequence of attempts to hide, remove, or Censorship, censor information, where the effort instead increases public awareness of the information. The term was coined in 2005 by ...
. Fujimori's model of control was characterized by its subtlety. Rather than overtly censoring dissenting views, the regime aimed to subtly skew news coverage, ensuring that viewers remained unaware of the manipulation. This approach was designed to avoid the impression that the government had anything to hide, thereby preventing the public from seeking out alternative sources of information. When coercion was necessary, Fujimori and his chief of intelligence, Montesinos, preferred to keep it out of sight, relying on regulatory pressures or business deals to achieve their ends. A notable example occurred in 1997 when Baruch Ivcher, a television magnate, turned against the government. Ivcher's Channel 2 broadcast damaging exposés of Montesinos and the National Intelligence Service (SIN). In response, Montesinos initially attempted to bribe Ivcher, offering him $19 million to relinquish control of the station's news programming. When Ivcher refused, Montesinos resorted to a legal maneuver, stripping Ivcher, a naturalized Peruvian citizen of Israeli origin, of his citizenship. Since only Peruvian citizens could own a television station, a compliant judge was then able to reassign Ivcher's shares to more loyal supporters of the regime. Unlike traditional autocrats who might have resorted to violence, Montesinos recognized the potential backlash such actions could provoke. When one of his aides suggested making death threats against Ivcher, Montesinos dismissed the idea, citing the negative consequences faced by Chilean dictator
Augusto Pinochet Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte (25 November 1915 – 10 December 2006) was a Chilean military officer and politician who was the dictator of Military dictatorship of Chile, Chile from 1973 to 1990. From 1973 to 1981, he was the leader ...
. Despite Montesinos' aversion to overt violence in this instance, he was not above using bloodshed when it served his purposes, as evidenced by his earlier deployment of death squads against peasants during the conflict with the Shining Path. However, the actions taken against Ivcher proved costly for the regime. In Lima, protests erupted in response to Ivcher's mistreatment, and the Catholic Church condemned the revocation of his citizenship as "illegal and dangerous". The
U.S. Congress The United States Congress is the legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a bicameral legislature, including a lower body, the U.S. House of Representatives, and an upper body, the U.S. Senate. They both ...
and the
Inter-American Court of Human Rights The Inter-American Court of Human Rights (I/A Court H.R.) is an international court based in San José, Costa Rica. Together with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, it was formed by the American Convention on Human Rights, a human r ...
also denounced the measure, a fact that underscored the international repercussions of the regime's actions.


Influence of polls


Fall


Vladimir Putin's Russia


Viktor Orbán's Hungary


References

{{Authority control Propaganda Forms of government Guided democracy Authoritarianism Dictatorship