ACKNOWLEDMENTS

First and foremost, we want to thank our lecturer Pn. Asmidar binti Lokman because

has spent her time to give brief explanation about Autocracy. This really helps to understand

us as a whole. She also has guide us how to make proper assignment for this course. Besides

that, we really want to thank our members because have give full of their commitment to

finish this assignment. As a whole, we really appreciate all of participators especially from

DPA 1C, because give us full of support to manage the task. For MARA University of

Technology (UiTM), who give us opportunity to search information and seek for advice to

improve our performances. In a nutshell, we dedicated this assignment for our parents who

are always give support and guidance for us to do our best. Thank you again for all the

participators who are involve in our assignments. We really appreciate your help.
 AUTOCRACY

1.0 Definition of Autocracy.

An autocracy is a form of government in which one person have unlimited power from

he or she position . An autocrat is a person who is ruling with unlimited power.

Authority such as a monarch. The term autocrat is derived from the from the word autokratõr

( means that “self – ruler, or “one who rules by himself”). It is clearly can be differentiate

from oligarchy ( “rule by the few”) and democracy (“ rule by the people”).

Nowadays the term autocrat is usually understood as being synonymous with despot,

tyrant, and dictator, although each of these terms had a different meaning.

Autocracy is not synonymous with totalitarianism, as the latter concept was forged in

1923 to distinguish modern regimes from traditional dictatorships. Nor it is synonymous with

military dictatorships, for example South America juntas which form from the “collective

presidencies”. However, the autocracy may be totalitarian or be a military dictatorship.

The term monarchy also differs in that it emphasizes the hereditary characteristic, though

some Slavic monarchs, specifically Russian Emperors traditionally included the title

“autocrat” as part of their official styles. This usage originated in the Byzantine Empire,

where the term autokaratõr was traditionally employed in Greek and translate the Latin

imperator, and was use along with Basileus to mean “emperor”( e.g. the Emperor of Japan),

regardless of the actual power of the monarch. Historically, many monarchs ruled

autocratically but eventually their power was diminished and dissolve with the introduction

of constitutions giving the people the power to make decisions for themselves through elected

bodies of government.

( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autocracy)
As a conclusion, the autocrat needs good develop of power structure to rule. To apply

this type of government, they must have charisma and skills on this. Besides that, they

also need the help from others. In fact, most historical autocrats depended on their

nobles, the military, the priesthood or others, who could turn against the ruler and

depose or murder them. As such, it can be difficult to draw a clear line between historical

autocracies and oligarchies. Sometimes, this very difficult to explain which is really

important whether they protect citizens or only for their need.

2.1 Authoritarianism

Principle of unqualified submission to authority, as cut individual freedom of thought

and action. As a political system, authoritarianism is antidemocratic in that political power is

concentrated in a leader or small elite. Authoritarianism is a label for the idea that a political

community is best managed by a strong governmental authority which is not subject to very

far reaching popular controls by the people who live in that community.

A style of government in which the rulers demand unquestioning obedience from the

ruled. Traditionally, ‘authoritarians’ have argued for a high degree of determination by

governments of belief and behaviour and a correspondingly smaller significance for

individual choice. But it is possible to be authoritarian in some spheres while being more

liberal in others.

Authoritarianism has become simply a ‘boo’ word, referring to overweening and

intolerant government irrespective of the justification, or lack of it, of such practices. Thus it

often means exactly the same as despotism, an older word. A number of American political

scientists in the Cold War period well-known between ‘authoritarian’ and ‘totalitarian’

governments. The former (mainly military regimes) had two advantages over the latter: they

did not last as long and, though they could repress their political opponents as brutally as any

known regimes, they left a larger sphere for private life. (Totalitarian regimes were, in this

context, invariably communist.) Thus, where conditions were not yet ripe for democracy,

there were relative advantages to authoritarianism.

2.1.2 The characteristics of authoritarianism

Authoritarian rules frequently come to power by force or violence, until quite

recently, power seizures of kind were quite common in Asia, Latin America, the Middle

East, and sub-Saharan Africa, where dictators would come and go with little or no effect on

the people in whose name they pretended to act.

Highly concentrated and centralizes power structures in which political power is

generated and maintained by a repressive system that excludes potential challengers and uses

political parties and mass organizations to mobilize people around the goals of the

government. It’s the main aim for maintaining a monopoly of power of authoritarian states.

Authoritarian leaders thus seek to control the means by which political opponents can be

intimidates, harassed, exiled, imprisoned or even executed. The army and the police are the

principle instruments of coercion, hence the high incidence of military rule.

A monopoly over the mass media and the court gives absolute rulers a highly

effective means of perpetuating their rule while also supplying the mechanism by which

excesses of power can be hidden or legitimized.

Although some authoritarian states have actively promoted social and economic

modernization for example Turkey, South Korea, and Taiwan in the recent past, most of the

characterized by underdeveloped economies stage between rich and poor. The rulers tend to

seek control over the economy only to a limited extent and chiefly for the purpose of

collecting taxes to underwrite military and economic programs and often generous personal

expenditure.
2.2 Absolute Monarchy

The word or term Monarchy originates from the Greek word, which means ‘rule of

single’ or ‘rule of one.” Absolute monarchy is a monarchical form of government where the

monarch exercises ultimate governing authority as head of state and head of government, thus

wielding political power over the sovereign power and its subject peoples. In an absolute

monarchy, the transmission of power is two-fold; hereditary and marital. As absolute

governor, the monarch’s authority is not legally bound or restricted by a constitution.

In theory, the absolute monarch exercises total power over the land and its subject

peoples, yet in practice the monarchy is counter-balanced by political groups from among the

social classes and castes of the realm.

The strength of the absolute monarchy system is the decision on the nation’s

administrations & welfare can be made & implemented immediately. This is because people

will obey to what the ruler said. Policies that can be implemented within a given period of

time. Ability to control and discipline people and ruler has a lot of power & stable position.

This is because only the king have a supreme power to give an order and to legislate the law.

But there also have a weakness of this system. Example like people does not have

much freedom of speech. All of their activities had been control by the ruler to make sure

they can maintain their power. Second is the contradicts with the principle of sovereignty

& democracy. Lastly, there is no control the monarch’s power. This can encourage

coercion & cruelty.

 2.3 Military rule

A military dictatorship is defined as a form of government where in the political

power resides with the military. In military dictatorship, the state is ruled directly by the

army, as the head of the state. Roy C. Macridis stated in his book, Modern Political Regimes:

Patterns and Institution, that there are two types of military rule: direct and indirect military

government. However, mixed forms also exist where the military exerts a very strong

influence without being entirely dominant.

In Latin America, military dictatorship was ruled by a junta, top military officers, who

make the major political decisions. Other military dictatorship is ruled by caudillo, a single

officer who is usually the senior army commander. In either case, the head of junta or the

single commander may often personally assume office as head of the state.

In Middle East and Africa, military governments more often came to be led by a

single powerful person, and were autocracies in addition to military dictatorships. There are

leaders who work to develop cult a personality and become the face of the nation inside and

outside their countries, such as Sani Abacha and Muammar al-Gaddafi.

Most military dictatorship are formed after a coup d’état has defeated the previous

government. Saddam Hussein’s regime in Iraq and Kim Il-sung’s regime in North Korea

began as one-party states, but over the course of their existence turned into military

dictatorships as their leader put on uniforms and the military became closely involved in the

government.
 In the past, military juntas have justified their rule as a way of bringing political

stability for the nation or rescuing it from the threat of “dangerous ideologies”. They tend to

portray themselves as non-partisan, as a “neutral” party that can provide temporary leadership

in times of chaos, as if the civilian politicians are corrupted and inefficient. The institution of

martial law or a permanent state of emergency is one of the almost universal characteristics

of a military government.

Military regimes usually have a little respect for human rights and will do anything to

silence political opponents, who are viewed as enemies. They are usually will not leave the

power if they are not forced to by popular rebellion. Military often has more cohesion and

institutional structure than most of the civilian institutions of society.

Military dictatorships are different from other forms of dictatorship. For instance, in

most current and historical Communist states, the center of power rests among civilian party

officials, and very cautious measurements are taken to avoid the military from practicing

independent authority.

However, military dictatorships become less common since 1990s because it has no

longer much legitimacy internationally and many militaries having unsuccessfully ruled

many nations tended not to become involved in political arguments. Besides, the end of the

Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union made it more difficult for military regimes to

use the threat of communism as justification for their actions, or to obtain support from

foreign sources.
2.5 Totalitarian.

Totalitarian (or totalitarian rule) is a political system where the state, usually under

control of single political organization, faction, or class domination, recognize no limits to its

authority and strives to regulate every aspect of public and private wherever able to be done.

Totalitarianism is generally characterized by the coincidence of authoritarianism (where

ordinary people do not have any change to share idea to do decision making in the country)

and ideology( especially of an unwelcome influence or physical that promote by institutional

means to direct the most significant aspects of public and private life).

Totalitarian regimes or movements maintain themselves in political power means of

an official all-embracing ideology and propaganda disseminated through the state -controlled,

mass media, a single party that controls the state, personality cults, control over the economy,

regulation and restriction of free discussion and criticism, the use of mass surveillance, and

widespread use of state terrorism.

Opposition parties are non-existence in totalitarian state. The whole control of life

of the nation in every part and from every point of view is given to the government, while the

government itself is placed in the hands of one man.

The two great examples of totalitarian states, after the Great War, were Italy, under

Mussolini, and Turkey, under Mustaffa Kemal, until in 1933 Hitler begin to organize

Germany on similar lines and with great success. The Nazi and Fascist governments which
were headed by Hitler and Mussolini respectively in Germany and Italy, till the end of World

War II, have been described as totalitarian.

Examination has shown that although individuals and groups were subjected

treatment and laws which they could not oppose and which were often cruel and illiberal,

there was not complete the complete centralization of power and authority that would exist in

a truly totalitarian state. In its, wider sense , however, the term 'totalitarian' may correctly be

applied to the former U.S.S.R ( Russia ), Communist China, Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy.

There is nothing absolutely new in the totalitarian state. It has many points of

resemblance with the Roman Empire of the first and second centuries, which came into

conflict with the Christian Church, for much the same reasons as had brought Hitler's

government into collision with Christianity in all its organized forms. For such government

claim the whole obedience of the subject and cannot bear the existence of any authority

which may prove a rival.

The strong governments of the past have all tended to approximate to the totalitarian

type. They have regarded liberty in all its forms not as a preservative against decay but as a

source of weakness and rebellion. During World War II, all governments, even those of

France, Great Britain, and the United States, approximated more or less to the totalitarian

type, and the modern dictators are carrying by war into a time which it was hoped would be

characterized by peace.
References
1.www.wordiq.com/definition/ military _Roy C. Macridis (1986), Modern Politics

Regimes :Pattern and Institutions, Canada :Little ,Brown.

2.Milon Nandy Terms and Theories in Politics Government International Relations and

Humanities,1993

3.David Milled Larry Sie Zeutop , Politik Dalam Perspektif Pemikiran dan Falasafah dan Teori.

Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka Kementerian Pendidikan Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur,1994.

4.K. Ramanathan, Siri Ekonomi dan Politik Fajar Bakti ,Asas Sains Politik, Edisi ke dua, Penerbit

Fajar Bakti Sdn. Bhd,1989.

5.Jay M. Shafritz and E.W. Russel, Introducing Public Administration,Fourth Edition, Pearson

Education, 2005

6.Wikipedia.org/wiki/Authoritarianism.

7.www.britainnica.com/EB, check/topic /authoritarianism.

8.Thomson Wadsworth, Understanding Politics,Idea, Institution, and Issues,2003.

CONCLUSION

As a conclusion, one should be aware of the various forms of government that

exists in the world today.

Among others, the major ones can be categorized into four types, these are -

Parliamentary and Presidential, Monarchy and Republic, Unitary and Federal, and

Democracy and Totalitarian (Dictatorship) forms of government