Authoritarian rule is a leadership style that gives leaders total control and requires strict compliance from the team. This type of leadership works well when consistency and precision are required, such as in the military, healthcare, and manufacturing industries. However, when applied to creative or dynamic projects, it can stifle innovation and harm morale. Understanding how to avoid authoritarian leadership is vital to keep teams motivated and engaged in the long term.
In a democracy, governing institutions provide checks and balances on executive power. Autocrats, however, often obstruct, delegitimize, or destroy these critical institutions in their pursuit of power. They may rewrite the rules, stack legislative bodies and courts with political lackeys or engage in “constitutional hardball” by using legal or pseudo-legal rationales to gut institutions and weaken opposition.
Many authoritarians also use divisive social issues to sow division and create a sense of crisis that can justify restrictions on civil liberties, the expansion of coercive measures, or even outright censorship. They stoke fears and hatred by targeting groups that are culturally or demographically different from the majority, which can undermine the very foundations of democracy.
Ultimately, a regime’s success depends on its ability to reassure voters that it is in their best interests, and the more a leader can build trust with voters, the more likely he or she is to maintain stability in power. By examining the tactics that authoritarians use, from obstructing legislatures and ideological court capture to stoking violence and scapegoating vulnerable populations, scholars can better understand the root causes of democratic backsliding and identify critical countermeasures.
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