Bio: (1926-2013) Spanish-American sociologist. Juan José Linz was a professor of sociology and political science at Yale University. He studied problems of authoritarianism, democracy, democratization, comparative political systems, and modernization. In „The Theory of Authoritarian Regimes, The Case of Spain” (1964), Linz introduces a typology of political regimes and divides them into totalitarian, authoritarian, and democratic. In his opinion, the authoritarian regime is not a transitional case between totalitarianism and democracy, but a stable institutional system that achieves obedience and control, legitimacy in its special way, and has a special way of recruiting elites.

In “Totalitarian and Democratic Regimes” (1975), Linz further developed the theoretical distinction between authoritarian and totalitarian regimes. Totalitarian regimes have an ideology, a single mass party supplemented by other mobilization organizations, and are characterized by a strong concentration of power in one person and his assistants. Fascism, as a sub-type of totalitarian regimes, is also characterized by hyper-nationalism; anti-democratic, anti-liberal, and anti-communist populism. Fascism combines paramilitary tactics with elections, so fascist rule is based on a strange combination of legitimacy and violence. Authoritarian regimes, on the other hand, have no developed ideologies and have limited political pluralism. Authoritarian regimes do not spread elaborate and developed ideologies to their subjects but propagate what Linz calls "mentalities", ways of thinking and feeling that are more emotional than rational. Those in power in authoritarian regimes exercise that power within ill-defined but predictable limits.

Linz introduces a typology of authoritarian regimes: 1) bureaucratic-military authoritarian regimes, 2) organic statism (authoritarian corporatism), 3) mobilizing authoritarian regimes, 4) postcolonial authoritarian regimes, 5) racial or ethnic "democracies," 6) incomplete totalitarian and pre-totalitarian and 7) post-totalitarian autocratic regimes. He concludes that the transition from an undemocratic regime to a democratic one cannot take place evolutionarily and gradually, but always requires a sudden and abrupt break with the old regime, in order to create a new, democratic one. In the same text, in addition to democratic, authoritarian, and totalitarian regimes, he introduces two other types - traditional oligarchy and semi-constitutional monarchy.

Linz also made a major contribution to comparative research on democratic regimes and in the article “The Perils of the Presidentialism” (1990) he concludes that prime ministerial systems are a much better basis, than presidential ones, for a stable and long-lasting democracy, especially in countries with large ethnic or political differences.

Main works

„A Theory of Authoritarian Regime: The Case of Spain”, in Allardt, E. and Littunen, Y. (ed.) Cleavages, Ideologies, and Party Systems (1964);

„Totalitarian and Authoritarian Regimes”, in Greenstein, F. i Polsby, N. (ed.) Macropolitical Theory: Handbook of Political Science, Vol. 3. (1975);

The Breakdown of Democratic Regimes: Crisis, Breakdown, and Reequilibration (1978);

„The Perils of Presidentialism”, in Journal of Democracy (1990);

Problems of Democratic Transition and Consolidation: Southern Europe, South America, and Post-Communist Europe (1996);

Totalitarian and Authoritarian Regimes (2000).