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Autocracy

Autocracy is a system of government in which absolute power is held by the ruler, known as an autocrat. It includes most forms of monarchy and dictatorship, while it is contrasted with democracy and feudalism. Various definitions of autocracy exist. They may restrict autocracy to cases where power is held by a single individual, or they may define autocracy in a way that includes a group of rulers who wield absolute power. The autocrat has total control over the exercise of civil liberties within the autocracy, choosing under what circumstances they may be exercised, if at all. Governments may also blend elements of autocracy and democracy, forming an anocracy. The concept of autocracy has been recognized in political philosophy since ancient times.

"Autocrat" redirects here. For other uses, see Autocrat (disambiguation).

Autocrats maintain power through political repression of any opposition and co-optation of other influential or powerful members of society. The general public is controlled through indoctrination and propaganda, and an autocracy may attempt to legitimize itself in the eyes of the public through appeals to ideology, religion, birthright, or foreign hostility. Some autocracies establish legislatures, unfair elections, or show trials to further exercise control while presenting the appearance of democracy. The only limits to autocratic rule are practical considerations in preserving the regime. Autocrats must retain control over the nation's elites and institutions for their will to be exercised, but they must also prevent any other individual or group from gaining significant power or influence. Internal challenges are the most significant threats faced by autocrats, as they may lead to a coup d'état.


Autocracy was among the earliest forms of government. It began as despotism, which existed throughout the ancient world in the form of chiefdoms, city-states, and empires. Monarchy was the predominant form of autocracy for most of history. Dictatorship became more common in the 19th century, beginning with the caudillos in Latin America and the empires of Napoleon and Napoleon III in Europe. Totalitarian dictatorships developed in the 20th century with the advent of fascist and communist states. Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, most dictatorships have been characterized as authoritarian rather than totalitarian.

Etymology and use[edit]

Autocracy comes from the Ancient Greek auto (Greek: αὐτός; "self") and kratos (Greek: κράτος; "power, might").[1] This became the Hellenistic/Byzantine Greek word autocrator (Greek: αὐτοκράτωρ) and the Latin imperator, both of which were titles for the Roman emperor. This was adopted in Old Russian as samod′rž′c′ and then modern Russian as samoderžec. In the 18th century, the title for the Russian emperor was translated to authocrateur and then autocrateur in French, while it was translated to Autocrator and then Autokrator in German. These terms were eventually used to refer to autocratic rulers in general.[2] The term has since developed a negative connotation.[1]

Origin and development[edit]

Formation[edit]

The earliest autocracies, such as chiefdoms, formed where there was previously no centralized government.[20] The initial development of an autocracy is attributed to its efficiency over anarchy, as it provides security and negates internal divisions. Mancur Olson introduced the term "stationary bandits" to describe the method of control associated with autocracy, as opposed to the "roaming bandits" that dominate anarchic society. Under this definition, autocrats as stationary bandits see long term investment in the society that they exploit through taxation and other seizure of resources, as opposed to the bandits in stateless societies that have no incentive to improve society. This creates a Pareto efficiency in which both the autocrat and the subjects benefit over the alternative.[15]


Douglass North, John Joseph Wallis, and Barry R. Weingast describe autocracies as natural states that arise from this need to monopolize violence. In contrast to Olson, these scholars understand the early state not as a single ruler, but as an organization formed by many actors. They describe the process of autocratic state formation as a bargaining process among individuals with access to violence. For them, these individuals form a dominant coalition that grants each other privileges such as the access to resources. As violence reduces the economic rents, members of the dominant coalition have incentives to cooperate and to avoid fighting. A limited access to privileges is necessary to avoid competition among the members of the dominant coalition, who then will credibly commit to cooperate and will form the state.[21]


There is great variance in the types of states that become autocratic. Neither a state's size, its military strength, its economic success, nor its cultural attributes significantly affect whether it is likely to be autocratic.[22] Autocracy is more likely to form in heterogeneous populations, as there is greater inequality and less social cohesion. Autocracies formed under these conditions are often more volatile for the same reasons.[15]

Types[edit]

Autocracy encompasses most non-democratic forms of government, including dictatorships, monarchies, and dominant-party regimes.[36] Monarchies were common in medieval Europe,[18] but in the modern era dictatorship is the most common form of government globally.[32]


Autocratic governments are classified as totalitarian when they engage in direct control of citizens' lives, or as authoritarian when they do not.[37] Totalitarian governments do not allow political or cultural pluralism. Instead, citizens are expected to devote themselves to a single ideological vision and demonstrate their support of the state ideology through political engagement. Totalitarian governments are revolutionary, seeking radically to reform society, and they often engage in terror against groups that do not comply with the state's vision.[38] Totalitarianism is associated with communist states and Nazi Germany.[39] Authoritarian governments maintain control of a nation purely through repression and controlled opposition rather than mandated adherence to a state ideology.[40] These include most traditional monarchies, military dictatorships, theocracies, and dominant party states.[41]


An absolute autocracy may be referred to as despotism, in which the autocrat rules purely through personal control without any meaningful institutions.[42] These were most common in pre-industrial societies, when large bureaucracies had not yet become standard in government.[43] Sultanism is a type of personalist dictatorship[34] in which a ruling family directly integrates itself into the state through a cult of personality, where it maintains control purely through rewards for allies and force against enemies. In these regimes, there is no guiding ideology or legal system, and the state serves only to bring about the leader's own personal enrichment.[19] Other descriptors, such as tyranny and absolutism, may also be associated with variations of autocracy.[5]


Though autocracies often restrict civil and political rights, some may allow limited exercise of some rights. These autocracies grant moderate representation to political opponents and allow exercise of some civil rights, though less than those associated with democracy. These are contrasted with closed autocracies, which do not permit the exercise of these rights.[44] Several forms of semi-autocratic government have been defined in which governments blend elements of democracy and autocracy.[3] These include limited autocracy, semi-autocracy, liberal autocracy,[3] semi-liberal autocracy,[44] anocracy,[9] and electoral autocracy.[45] These governments may begin as democratic governments and then become autocratic as the elected leader seizes control over the nation's institutions and electoral process.[46] Conversely, autocratic governments may transition to democracy through a period of semi-autocratic rule.[47]

Centralisation

Democratic backsliding

Kleptocracy

Mafia state

Monocracy

Oligarchy

Statism

Triumvirate

Tsarist autocracy

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Autocracy