Authoritarianism is a system of government in which political power is concentrated in the hands of one leader or a small group, political competition is limited, and citizens have fewer opportunities to hold leaders accountable than they do in a democracy. Authoritarian systems vary considerably: some maintain elections, legislatures, courts, and opposition parties but manipulate these institutions to favor those already in power, while more closed regimes eliminate meaningful political competition altogether. Political scientists also distinguish authoritarian governments according to who holds power, including personalist dictatorships, military regimes, one-party states, absolute monarchies, and theocracies. Autocracy is a more specific form of authoritarian rule in which power is concentrated primarily in a single individual with few meaningful constraints, while totalitarianism represents an especially extensive form of authoritarian control in which the state seeks to dominate not only politics but also citizens’ beliefs and social life. Because authoritarian regimes differ in how much political competition and institutional independence they permit, authoritarianism is best understood as encompassing a range of systems rather than a single form of government.
Authoritarianism is a broad term that refers to a system of government in which political power is concentrated in the hands of one leader or a small group, with limited political competition and few constraints on the government's authority. Citizens typically have restricted civil liberties, opposition parties face significant barriers, and elections—if they exist—are often neither free nor fully competitive.
Political scientists commonly classify authoritarian governments in two ways: by how open the political system is and by who holds power.
Competitive authoritarianism is a system in which democratic institutions such as elections, legislatures, and courts continue to exist, but those in power manipulate them to maintain control. Opposition parties may participate in elections, but they face significant disadvantages through media bias, harassment, restrictions on campaigning, or unequal enforcement of the law. While citizens retain some political freedoms, the political playing field is heavily tilted in favor of the ruling party.
Closed authoritarianism is a system in which meaningful political competition is eliminated altogether. Elections are either absent or purely symbolic, opposition parties are banned or rendered ineffective, and the government exercises extensive control over political life. Citizens have little realistic opportunity to replace their leaders through peaceful democratic means.
Totalitarianism is the most extreme form of authoritarianism. In addition to suppressing political opposition, totalitarian governments seek to control nearly every aspect of society by shaping citizens' beliefs, values, and daily lives through a single official ideology, extensive censorship, propaganda, state surveillance, and control over education, media, religion, and often the economy. Historical examples include Nazi Germany under Adolf Hitler and the Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin.
Authoritarian governments can also be classified according to who exercises political power.
Many authoritarian governments combine several of these characteristics. For example, a country may be both a one-party state and highly personalist, or both an absolute monarchy and a theocracy.
An autocracy is a system of government in which political power is concentrated in the hands of a single individual who exercises authority with few or no meaningful legal constraints. Unlike broader forms of authoritarianism, which may be governed by a ruling party, military council, or elite group, an autocracy centers power in one leader whose decisions largely determine the direction of the state.
Autocrats may inherit power, seize it through force, or come to office through elections before dismantling the democratic checks on their authority. While some autocracies maintain constitutions, legislatures, or elections, these institutions generally serve to reinforce the ruler's power rather than meaningfully constrain it.
Unlike democracies, which today are overwhelmingly representative, authoritarian regimes exist in a wide variety of institutional forms. Some maintain elections and limited political opposition to create the appearance of democratic legitimacy, while others eliminate political competition almost entirely. As a result, political scientists increasingly view authoritarianism as existing on a spectrum, with competitive authoritarianism closest to democracy and closed authoritarianism and totalitarianism representing increasingly concentrated and unrestricted forms of political control.
What are the main types of government, and where does your country fall on the democracy-to-authoritarian spectrum? Learn the differences between democracy, republics, monarchies, oligarchies, anocracies, authoritarianism, and totalitarianism through expert insights from political scientists, historians, and democracy advocates featured across The Democracy Group podcast network.
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Subscribe to our NewsletterBrandon Stover is the Network Manager for The Democracy Group and a Digital Content Specialist at the McCourtney Institute for Democracy. He leads partnerships and collaborations across the podcast network, oversees educational content strategy, and produces written, audio, and video content while managing the network's digital marketing efforts. Before joining the McCourtney Institute for Democracy, Brandon founded and led a nonprofit organization dedicated to creating free educational content on global issues. He holds a master's degree in Architecture from Washington State University.
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