The concept of authoritarianism was first introduced inan appeal in the middle of the 20th century by political scientists from the Frankfurt School. The implication was that authoritarian political regimes are a combination of features of the social structure and, above all, the peculiar relations of the people and government. According to the proposed definition, such a form of social and state structure strongly contradicted the ideas of genuine democracy. At the same time, the features of an authoritarian political regime can be seen in the example of the many states of the planet of the last century. Not to mention the deeper historical experience of mankind.
The concentration of all power in the hands of one person or a small group: the military junta, the sole dictator, the theological leader, and so on.
The separation of powers into branches independent from each other is naturally absent.
In such a state often anyreal opposition force. However, this does not exclude the possibility of the existence of a demonstrative puppet opposition as long as the situation is controlled by the authorities. Often, the government itself initiates the so-called imitation of elections - that is, holding an event with all the formal attributes, creating the illusion of fair elections, which in practice have a pre-planned scenario.
Public administration usually takes the form of command-and-control methods.
Authoritarian political regimes are oftendeclare their own democracy, the protection of the rights and freedoms of their citizens. However, real protection in practice is not provided. Moreover, the government itself violates these civil rights in the political sphere.
Security forces do not protect the public interests and rights of citizens, but protect the established order (often acting against their own citizens).
Totalitarian and authoritarian political regimes
It should be noted that authoritarianismstate power is determined by a number of signs. The absence or coincidence of one of them is not a sufficient basis for conclusions. Authoritarian political regimes are often identified with totalitarianism. And although they have several common features, this is not entirely true. Authoritarian power rests on the personality of the leader (or group of leaders), whose qualities allow us to usurp and hold it. However, in the event of the removal (death) of this leader or the ruling group, the authoritarian regime often undergoes a transformation, since the heirs cannot retain power.
