Understanding Society

The ruthless authoritarianism and tyranny of Stalinist rule depended on a leader, a party, and a set of institutions that worked to terr...

The Chinese government signaled a major escalation in its policy of repressing dissidents with this week's conviction of dissident int...

  The world has known ruthless, violent, and murderous rulers for centuries.  Queen Elizabeth ran a secret service that ruthlessly pursu...

photos: Battaya demonstration 4/11/09 (top 2); Bangkok 4/12/09 (bottom) Thailand's civil unrest took a new turn Saturday (4/11/09) when ...

Several recent postings on this blog have focused on power. Ultimately power depends upon a threat of violence. And recent reports from Ch...

If any collective entity possesses power, surely it is the state in a dictatorship – the Burmese military dictatorship or the single-party s...