Authoritarian rule refers to any system of governance in which one person possesses unchecked power. Though they may pay lip service to democracy, regimes that govern in this way rely on a combination of state institutions and private behaviors to brainwash citizens into an unquestioning loyalty to their leader and his or her guiding ideology. They censor the media, silence opposition parties, and stack government agencies with loyalists. They may even rig elections or use coercive security measures to suppress voter turnout and reward supporters.
In addition to rewriting laws, authoritarians undermine competing institutions that were once designed to act as checks on executive authority. They do so by creating cults of personality and aggrandizing the trappings of office, while demonizing checks and balances as corrupt obstacles to “popular will.” Dictators also employ tactics like “telephone law,” in which they directly tell judges what to decide, or engage in a form of legal hardball called “constitutional hardball,” where they push the boundaries of existing laws.
Finally, they seek to inflame politically-useful violence. This ploy advances their efforts to restrict civil liberties, expand coercive security measures, and stoke feelings of insecurity that fuel the desire for hardball politics over compromise.
The best way to resist authoritarianism is to support the democratic institutions that protect people’s rights and freedoms. Donate and volunteer with organizations that provide food, education, labor, health care, legal resources, and elections. Avoid clinging to us-versus-them narratives that divide movements and only serve to empower authoritarians.