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Politics & Government vocabulary · Political Systems

Authoritarian

Meaning in politics & government, with examples

/ɔːˌθɒrɪˈteəriən/adjectiveCommon term

In politics & government, authoritarian means: Describing a system or ruler that concentrates power in a few hands, limits political freedoms and does not allow real competition or opposition.

In Turkish: otoriter, baskıcı

How it is used

Used in political science to classify regimes, in phrases such as authoritarian regime, authoritarian rule and authoritarian state. The noun is authoritarianism. Researchers often place regimes on a scale from democratic to authoritarian. The word can also describe a very strict style of parenting or management.

Example sentences

  1. The course compares how democratic and authoritarian regimes respond to economic crises.

  2. In the novel, the author imagines everyday life under an authoritarian government.

Common collocations

  • authoritarian regime
  • authoritarian rule
  • authoritarian state
  • authoritarian leader
  • democracyA system of government in which power belongs to the people, who choose their leaders in free elections and can replace them; also a country governed in this way.
  • rule of lawThe principle that everyone, including the government and its officials, must obey the law, and that laws are applied fairly by independent courts.
  • freedom of expressionThe right to hold opinions and to share ideas and information through speech, writing, art or the media without unjustified interference by the state.
  • oppositionThe parties in parliament that are not part of the government, especially the largest of them, whose role is to question the government and offer an alternative.

More terms: Political Systems

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