Jump to Content Jump to Main Navigation
Max Planck Encyclopedia of Comparative Constitutional Law [MPECCoL]

Authoritarianism

Gábor Attila Tóth

From: Oxford Constitutions (http://oxcon.ouplaw.com). (c) Oxford University Press, 2023. All Rights Reserved.date: 30 September 2023

Subject(s):
Authoritarianism

General Editors: Rainer Grote, Frauke Lachenmann, Rüdiger Wolfrum
Managing Editor: Martina Mantovani

1. Modern authoritarianism, a form of government (forms of government), is multifaceted. As a broad term, authoritarianism refers to arbitrary governmental authority. The common feature of authoritarian states is the enforcement of obedience to a central authority at the expense of personal freedoms, rule of law and other constitutional values and principles (Oxford English Dictionary; Linz (2001) 57; Ginsburg and Simpser). 2. In other words, authoritarianism can be characterized by chronic shortcomings: narrowed political pluralism, absent or inadequate...
Users without a subscription are not able to see the full content. Please, subscribe or login to access all content.