Social science scholars and researchers often coin new terms to designate or replace old economic, social, and political phenomena.

As is the case with researcher and professor of Psychology at the University of Manchester (United Kingdom), Steve Taylor, who has coined the concept of “pathocracy” to designate a regime led by individuals suffering from personality disorders and pathologies or other mental disorders. .

Venezuelan jurist, sociologist, and social communicator, Luis Velázquez Alvaray, wrote in the Venezuelan online newspaper El Nacional that according to Taylor “much of the world is in the hands of the powerful with personality disorders and mental pathologies.” He said that Taylor defined such a government as “a pathocracy and their leaders are very narcissistic, which makes them very destructive people.”

Velázquez Alvaray maintains in his article that these people are psychopaths, “hence their capacity for crime, surrounding themselves with similar people… Within these groups it is common to observe their antisocial behavior, reflected for example in the torture of political prisoners.. …proven to be a ruthless personality, with no regrets.”

Professor Steve Taylor —quoted by Velázquez Alvaray— is the author of the book Offline. The roots of human cruelty and how relationships can heal the worldwhich came to enrich the political literature. Taylor, in an interview with a Spanish online magazine Confidential spoke extensively about his book; and explains that “to connect means to empathize, to have the ability to build emotional and psychological connections with the rest. It’s not about imagining your situation, but about feeling it. To feel what other people feel, to feel their experiences and emotions.”

Rather, the author reasons, “those who are cut off are those with a strong drive to possess power and wealth. They have that urge because they feel they are missing something, they feel incomplete, and from there comes their strong desire to have something. That’s why so many disconnected people feel a strong urge to hold power, often political power, but also in any organization with a hierarchy.”

Taylor has studied the personality of professional politicians from around the world, which leads him to determine that not everyone is disconnected, “but because disconnected people feel a very strong urge to power, there are higher proportion of psychopaths in politics than among the general population.

The British political scientist added that “one of the characteristics of disconnected leaders (is) they never want to leave power, they become addicted to power and often try to dismantling democracy Because it limits your power. They dismantled democracy to increase their power and thus be able to continue their office.

Acknowledging that this political phenomenon is not new, Taylor mentions longtime psychopathic Roman rulers such as Caligula and Nero, but also virtuous emperors such as Marcus Aurelius. And he assures that the same thing happened with the monarchy, because there are bad kings and good kings.

According to him, in the 20th century “patocracy became more prevalent as social structures were blown up and it was easier for lower-class people with psychological disorders to push themselves to power. Many psychopathic leaders come from very poor backgrounds, from disadvantaged backgrounds, but it is very violent, very violent people and with a very strong thirst for power who manage to rise to positions of command.

It’s safe to say that the leading pathocrats of the last century were Hitler and Stalin, Mao and Fidel Castro. But in the 21st century they are also abundant and sadly there are more than just connected politicians, namely those who are democratic and respect the freedoms and rights of others.

We Nicaraguans know a lot about that, from our own experience.