Autocracy

An autocracy is a form of government where one individual has absolute control and decision-making power in a country. The word autocratic comes from the Greek auto, for “self,” and cratic, or “rule.” Although dictatorships are autocracies, they may also be ruled by a group of people, whereas one person holds all the economic, military, political, and social power in an autocracy. Despotism, fascism, and oligarchy are some forms of autocracy. While these systems have existed since ancient times, in the twenty-first century, autocracy is most often recognized in absolute monarchies and dictatorships. People living in areas with autocratic governments have no say in lawmaking, policies, or how the nation’s laws are enforced. These governments have no systems of checks and balances—an autocratic ruler does not have to answer to any other authority such as a cabinet of advisers, a system of courts, the public, or the media. The ruler’s power is limitless.

Background

Throughout history, particularly during times of political unrest, people who thirsted for strong leaders have tended to support autocratic rulers. Fifteenth-century Italian political philosopher Niccolo Machiavelli recognized this tendency and recommended temporary autocracy as a way of restoring political order and ending dissent.

Autocracy can be seen frequently in history. Examples include the rise of the Roman Empire under Julius Caesar, Mongol emperor Genghis Khan, Adolf Hitler’s leadership of the Nazi Party in Germany, and Italian ruler Benito Mussolini. Other examples of autocratic leaders throughout history include English monarchs King Henry VIII and Queen Elizabeth I; France’s Napoleon Bonaparte; Emperor Hirohito of Japan; China’s Mao Zedong; Cuban leader Fidel Castro; President Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela; and Vladimir Putin, president of Russia.

For centuries, kings and queens ruled by birthright. Their royal lineage was often traced back to ancient times and they were believed to be divine or descended from gods. This was seen in ancient Egypt, where pharaohs were believed to be mediators between the human world and the world of the gods and became divine after death.

Hitler’s rise is a case study in autocracy. Germany’s World War I loss and the resulting terms of the Treaty of Versailles humiliated and rankled its citizens. Furthermore, Germany had to pay reparations, which harmed the economy and caused rampant inflation. Hitler, a wounded veteran of the war and gifted public speaker, formed the Nazi Party as opposition to the postwar government. The top-down leadership system of the party demanded obedience. Hitler’s rise to power was achieved by painting Jewish people, communists, and other minorities as enemies determined to destroy Germany and its people, who he characterized as a superior race. His success was due in large part to the cult of personality he and his party created, which cast him as the only means of saving Germany. He and his followers murdered millions, but like many autocrats, he came to an ignominious end, hiding in a bunker.

Overview

According to the 2024 Democracy Report by the Varieties of Democracy Institute, in 2023 the world experienced 1985-levels of democracy. The report found an almost even number of democracies and autocracies, with 91 democracies and 88 autocracies. Dictatorships were on the rise, holding 71 percent of the world’s population, or 5.7 billion people. Only eighteen countries that year were classified as democratizing, or shifting to a democratic government.

On the other hand, autocratization, or the shift to autocratic government, was continuing to evolve. It was marked by the growing use of polarization, rise of misinformation, deterioration of freedom of expression, and a surge in military coups. Dictatorships were on the rise globally. Forty-two countries were in ongoing episodes of autocratization. Electoral autocracy is the most common variant of autocracy, with 3.5 billion people worldwide living under this type of regime. Scholars at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace call electoral autocracy a façade of democracy—regimes that present an illusion of multi-party democracy while simultaneously stripping elections of their effectiveness. This is often done by establishing a faulty electoral process. Election results are known in advance and may be held frequently.

One example of a faulty election system that legitimizes an authoritarian regime has been seen in Russia. Before the September 2021 presidential election, the government imprisoned the opposition leader, Aleksey Navalny, and calling his movement “extremist.” This prevented other candidates who were even loosely associated with Navalny from running for office and ensuring Vladimir Putin would be declared the winner. Navalny eventually died in prison, further empowering Putin with the lack of a challenger. In addition, independent observers noted irregularities and restrictions in the balloting of the election. Prior to the election, a law had restricted the activities of private media and individuals who were critical of the Putin regime.

A similar example can be found in Nicaragua, where the November 2021 election was uncompetitive. President Daniel Ortega refused to make electoral reforms recommended by the Organization for American States that would have made the electoral council more independent and allowed for more transparent voter registration and vote counting processes. The reforms also would have allowed independent international electoral observers to monitor the polls. Instead, the government passed a foreign agents law that limited the voices of the opposition. It canceled the registration of nearly fifty organizations and arrested at least seven potential opposition candidates on treason and other charges.

According to the Freedom in the World 2022 report, autocrats have created an international environment they find more favorable. This is in part due to less pressure from democracies. The report calls out the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which it says plays a leading role in promoting autocratic norms. For example, by 2021, the CCP had started using military threats to suppress international criticism of the party. This resulted in silence from certain governments and institutions. For instance, New Zealand’s parliament was critical of China for its treatment of ethnic minority groups in Xinjiang, referring to human rights abuses, but stopped short of using the word genocide when the trade minister said that using this type of language would hurt economic relations with China.

Many historically democratic nations are also shifting closer to becoming autocratic governments. This includes India, which has been under the rule of President Narendra Modi since 2014. The Organization for World Peace reported Modi’s actions, words, and policies were pushing the country toward autocracy. Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is guided by Hindu nationalism, which pushes for India to become a Hindu nation. The country has a long history of religious tension, but it was founded as a strictly secular (non-religious) state. Muslims claim most of the Hindu nationalist policies target them; for example, the Citizenship Amendment Bill of 2019 fast-tracks citizenship of some undocumented migrants from several Muslim-majority countries but excludes Muslims from this benefit.

Brazil is another democratic nation that has been seen as slipping into autocracy. President Jair Bolsonaro came to power in 2019, using online disinformation and blaming the country’s polarization on the people in power. He painted himself as a populist, a person who strives to appeal to ordinary people, standing against the controlling elite in the country. Once in power, Bolsonaro sought out those he called communists, which often meant any politician who was not as far right as himself. Then, he began to question the legitimacy of the country’s electoral system. Human Rights Watch called Bolsonaro out, saying he was threatening democratic rule in the country. Bolsonaro expressed support for the military dictatorship that ruled Brazil prior to 1988. He also refused to say publicly that he would accept election results if he lost his bid for reelection.

Some believe that the United States has moved toward autocracy in the twenty-first century. Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign was based heavily on disinformation. Even before he was elected, he painted immigrants and Muslims as dangers to the nation to create an “us versus them” dynamic. In office, he showed disregard for the law by attempting to stop an investigation into his campaign’s contact with the Russian government. His supporters attempted to overturn the results of the 2020 election, which he lost. In the 2024 election, he continued to use disinformation and used strong language against immigrants. He also threatened retribution against his enemies and used language about the enemy within, raising alarm bells among scholars and democracy advocates.

In the 2024 report, Israel fell out of the category of liberal democracy for the first time in over fifty years. The country was reclassified as an electoral democracy and scholars note the country’s moves away from certain democratic elements. The change in status came after Israel’s overhauling of the justice system. The Knesset passed a legislation which would take away the High Court of Justice’s ability to nix laws it determined to be “unreasonable.” While the court was able to overturn the legislation, watch dogs worried about the erosion of Israel’s democracy. The Israel-Hamas conflict that broke out in 2023 further elicited questions about Israel’s democracy as the government, led by Netanyahu, acted in ways in conflict with human rights laws.

Human Rights Watch says the world’s autocrats are facing increased resistance. The organization said that the defenders of human rights, democracy, and the law were gaining strength across the world. Some of the biggest gains in this arena took place within the United Nations Human Rights Council, which began taking steps in 2019 to increase pressure on autocratic regimes in Myanmar, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, and other countries. In some countries, the populations have fought back using public pressure and elections. For example, Serzh Sargsyan was forced to step down as Armenia’s prime minister following massive protests. Also, Bolsonaro was narrowly beaten by leftist former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in the 2022 Brazilian presidential election, and while Bolsonaro did not make a public statement of concession, he did not contest the result either.

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