what is autocracy

An autocracy is a system of government in which a supreme political power is concentrated in the hands of one person, whose decisions are subject to neither external legal restraints nor regularized mechanisms of popular control (except perhaps for the implicit threat of coup d'état or mass insurrection)


Comparison with other forms of government

Both totalitarianism and military dictatorship, are often identified with, but need not be, autocracy. Totalitarism is a system where the state strives to control every aspect of life and civil society. It can be headed by a supreme dictator, making it autocratic, but it can have a collective leadership such as a commune or soviet. Likewise, military dictatorships often take the form of "collective presidencies" such as the South American juntas of the late 20th century, meaning that no one person wields supreme power.

The term monarchy is only a synonym for autocracy in the case of an absolute monarchy.For this reason, some historical Slavic monarchs, such as Russian Emperors, included the title "autocrat" as part of their official styles, distinguishing them from the constitutional monarchs elsewhere in Europe.

Because autocrats need a power structure to rule, it can be difficult to draw a clear line between historical autocracies and oligarchies. Most historical autocrats depended on theirnobles, the military, the priesthood or other elite groups.