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Authoritarian Leaders

Definition

Authoritarian leaders are those who exercise an extreme level of control over their followers or citizens, often without their consent.

Analogy

An authoritarian leader is like a strict school principal who makes all the rules, doesn't allow any input from students or teachers, and punishes anyone who disobeys.

Related terms

Totalitarianism: A system of government that is centralized and dictatorial and requires complete subservience to the state.

Dictatorship: A form of government where a country or a group of countries is ruled by one person (a dictator) or political entity.

Autocracy: A system of government in which supreme power over a country is concentrated in the hands of one person, whose decisions are subject to neither external legal restraints nor regularized mechanisms of popular control.

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AP® and SAT® are trademarks registered by the College Board, which is not affiliated with, and does not endorse this website.