1.3 Democracy vs. Authoritarianism

4 min read•june 18, 2024

Kelly Cotton

AP Comparative Government 🗳️

90 resources

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Unit 1 - Democracy vs. Authoritarianism

In this topic we will explore how we can define political regimes. As a reminder, political regimes defines the set of rules and norms that determine the political system. The regime defines who has the power, and that has significant implication in the lives of the citizens of a nation. 👥

Regimes are either democratic 🙋🏾‍♀️ or authoritarian 👑 One of the first things you need to be able to do is define those terms.

Democratic 🙋🏾‍♀️—This regime type involves the selection 🗳️ of government officials through free and fair elections ☑️, a balance between the principle of majority rule and the protection of minority interests, and constitutional 📜 limitations on government actions.

Authoritarianism 👑—A regime type defined by the rule of single 1️⃣ leader, a small group of people, or a single political party 1️⃣ or institution.

Keep in mind that regimes are defined on a range of authoritarian and democratic, as a spectrum. Which means that there is a lot "in between" and several variations of each. You will explore more of that when we study each core country individually. There are several factors such as history, culture and economic system, which are individual to every nation, that define their political regime.

Key Characteristics

You need to understand the characteristics of both democracy 🙋🏾‍♀️ and authoritarianism 👑, so I've created charts to help.

🙋🏾‍♀️ Democratic characteristics

Free and fair elections.
Competitive elections.
Government-developed policies and procedures that guarantee due process, accountability, and transparency in decision making.
Political and civil rights are possessed by all.
Independent judiciary.
Elected government officials who exercise authority over the government.
Rule of Law.

👑 Authoritarian characteristics

Limited political participation.
Limited autonomy of society from state control.
Limitations placed upon political opposition.
Little political accountability or transparency.

Types of Authoritarian Regimes

Authoritarian regimes can include illiberal ⛔ democracy or hybrid ➕ regimes, one 1️⃣-party systems, theocracies 🛐, totalitarian governments 🕵️, and military 🎖️ regimes. You will need to know the difference between these regimes.

Illiberal democracy or hybrid regime is an authoritarian regime in which elections are held, but elected officials often use the electoral process to keep themselves in power. In other words it's an authoritarian regime where elements of "democracy" are present ➕⛔
A one-party system only allows one party to run for government office 1️⃣
Theocracies are governments in which religious leaders run the government. There is no separation or church and state 🛐
Totalitarian governments are regimes that seek to control nearly every aspect of public and private life 🕵️
Military regimes are authoritarian governments in which a military leader runs the government 🎖️

Types of Democratic Regimes

Democracy does not consitute one single type of regime. For a regime to qualify as a democracy it must follow all the characteristics mentioned above. But, countries have developed different regimes that embrace the idea that the people should be involved in the polical processes. These are some different types of democracy:

Parliamentary democracy is a regime in which the head of state is chosen through the legislative branch (the parliament). The head of state and the head of government are different officials.
A Presidential democracy is a regime in which the President is chosen through the election process by the people. In this regime, the president is the the head of state and the head of government. 👩‍⚖️
In Federal democracies the power is shared between central and regional governments. both the central and local governments have their own responsibilities and rules and are also directly voted by the people.
Direct democracies are s type of system that citizens are directly involved in the decision-making process. This process usually occurs through referendums, which is when the government requires the population to vote an issue matter.
- Example: One of the most popular referendums took place in the UK when the government asked the people to vote in favor or against the BREXIT (the exit of Britain from the European Union). 🇪🇺
Representative democracy is a type of regime in which the people select officials to represent their own interests. There are mechanisms for accountability in representative democracies, such as impeachment and recall. ✅

💡Remember: the head of state is the ceremonial figure that represents the entire nation and is involved in international affairs. The head of government is in charge of the day-to-day tasks of a government and it holds executive powers.

So what about our countries of study?

UK 🇬🇧 = Consolidated 🙋🏾‍♀️

Russia 🇷🇺 = 👑, Illiberal or hybrid regime

Iran 🇮🇷 = 👑, theocracy

Nigeria 🇳🇬 = 👑, military and more recently hybrid

Mexico 🇲🇽 = 👑, hybrid

China 🇨🇳 = 👑, one-party system

Browse Study Guides By Unit

👑Unit 1 – Political Systems, Regimes, & Governments

1.0Unit 1 Overview: Political Systems, Regimes, and Governments

1.1The Practice of Political Scientists

1.2Defining Political Institutions