Book Review: Bureaucratic AuthoritarianismWhat is bureaucratic authoritarianism? This was a question to which I did not know the answer, prior to my in-depth exploration of the novel “Bureaucratic Authoritarianism” written by Guillermo O'Donnell in 1988. Bureaucratic authoritarianism is often known as a type of regime that has been understood as a form of bureaucratic and technocratic military government that seeks to limit popular mobilization. It is also based on a political coalition and a political orientation that involves strong ties with international economic actors. In his novel, O'Donnell ventures to explain how and why the elimination of the popular sector from politics, and the resulting regressive shift of income towards the middle and upper classes in Argentina between 1966 and 1973, greatly increased authoritarianism bureaucratic. O'Donnell directly challenges modernization theory and proposes a hypothesis to explain why high modernization in late industrializing countries leads to nondemocratic political systems. He further argues that transitions from one system to another are caused by the social and political tensions produced by industrialization and changes in social structure at both the elite and mass levels. These socioeconomic changes are linked to the absolute (not per capita) size of the modern sector. At a general level his framework highlights the importance of focusing on the interaction between the crucial characteristics of politics in Argentina, which include those of confrontation, regime and dominant politics. While, on a more specific level, it focuses on the economic problems associated with different levels of industrialization and the perception of threat as a driving force behind the evolution of the bureaucrat… middle of paper… . came to the conclusion: what is the role of the popular sector? The growing political role of the popular sector could also have been a factor in the creation of authoritarian bureaucratic regimes. But this was an idea that O'Donnell didn't dare delve into. In conclusion, the novel "Bureaucratic Authoritarianism" was one that provided me with a tremendous amount of historical context and detailed knowledge of the economic and political situation. in Argentina from 1966 to 1973. I came to the conclusion that this novel about bureaucratic authoritarianism was motivated by the effort to understand these regimes in order to remove them. Unlike other activists in Latin America, however, O'Donnell sought to remove these bureaucratic regimes through non-revolutionary means and with the goal of establishing political democracy, not socialism..