Saylor.org's Comparative Politics/Authoritarian States
Authoritarian systems are the antithesis of democracy. As
opposed to the democratic principles of rule by the people,
authoritarian systems are lead by either an individual or a
small group of individuals. There are dozens of authoritarian
systems, but all share the general characteristic of
exclusiveness, which means keeping the vast majority of people
out of policy and decision-making processes. Often a government
will display multiple forms of authoritarian rule, a short list
of these different forms is as follows: Kleptocracy: A
government led by a leader whose sole objective is to use the
state to enrich himself: for example, Saddam Hussein.
Totalitarianism: An authoritarian government where the leader(s)
has an all pervasive presence, usually established through
secret police agencies, mass repression and surveillance.
Another element of totalitarianism is the lack of independent
civil society organizations; those that may exist are extensions
of th