Editing Autocracy (section)

== Types ==
Autocracy encompasses most non-democratic forms of government, including [[dictatorship]]s, [[monarchies]], and [[dominant-party system|dominant-party regimes]].{{Sfn|Golosov|2021|pp=10–11}} Monarchies were common in medieval Europe,{{Sfn|Grzymala-Busse|Finkel|2022|loc=How Autocracies Are Sustained}} but in the modern era dictatorship is the most common form of government globally.{{Sfn|Tullock|1987|p=18}}

Autocratic governments are classified as [[totalitarian]] when they engage in direct control of citizens' lives, or as [[authoritarian]] when they do not.{{Sfn|Tullock|1987|pp=5–6}} Totalitarian governments do not allow [[Pluralism (political philosophy)|political]] or [[cultural pluralism]]. Instead, citizens are expected to devote themselves to [[Ideocracy|a single ideological vision]] and demonstrate their support of the state ideology through political engagement. Totalitarian governments are [[revolutionary]], seeking radically to reform society, and they often engage in [[terror (politics)|terror]] against groups that do not comply with the state's vision.{{Sfn|Siaroff|2013|pp=232–233}} Totalitarianism is associated with [[communist state]]s and [[Nazi Germany]].{{Sfn|Siaroff|2013|pp=229, 232}} Authoritarian governments maintain control of a nation purely through repression and controlled opposition rather than mandated adherence to a state ideology.{{Sfn|Siaroff|2013|pp=239–240}} These include most traditional monarchies, military dictatorships, [[theocracy|theocracies]], and dominant party states.{{Sfn|Siaroff|2013|pp=240, 242–243, 245}}

An absolute autocracy may be referred to as [[despotism]], in which the autocrat rules purely through personal control without any meaningful institutions.{{Sfn|Finer|1997|p=70}} These were most common in pre-industrial societies, when large bureaucracies had not yet become standard in government.{{Sfn|Finer|1997|p=66}} [[Sultanism]] is a type of personalist dictatorship{{Sfn|Burnell|2006|p=548}} in which a ruling family directly integrates itself into the state through a [[cult of personality]], where it maintains control purely through rewards for allies and force against enemies. In these regimes, there is no guiding ideology or legal system, and the state serves only to bring about the leader's own personal enrichment.{{Sfn|Siaroff|2013|pp=237–238}} Other descriptors, such as [[tyranny]] and absolutism, may also be associated with variations of autocracy.{{Sfn|Gerschewski|2023|p=30}}

Though autocracies often restrict [[civil and political rights]], some may allow limited exercise of some rights. These autocracies grant moderate representation to political opponents and allow exercise of some civil rights, though less than those associated with democracy. These are contrasted with closed autocracies, which do not permit the exercise of these rights.{{Sfn|Siaroff|2013|p=90}} Several forms of semi-autocratic government have been defined in which governments blend elements of democracy and autocracy.{{Sfn|Burnell|2006|p=546}}<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":0" /> These include limited autocracy, semi-autocracy, [[liberal autocracy]],{{Sfn|Burnell|2006|p=546}} semi-liberal autocracy,{{Sfn|Siaroff|2013|p=90}} [[anocracy]],{{Sfn|Mukherjee|Koren|2018|p=5}} [[electoral autocracy]],{{Sfn|Wong|Or|2020}} partly-free regimes, and multi-party autocracies.<ref name=":1" /> These governments may begin as democratic governments and then become autocratic as the elected leader seizes control over the nation's institutions and electoral process.{{Sfn|Miller|2012}} Conversely, autocratic governments may transition to democracy through a period of semi-autocratic rule.{{Sfn|Siaroff|2013|p=91}}