Mark Henderson answered
An autocratic government (or autocracy) is a system where complete political power is in the hands of one person. The leader of an autocracy is a dictator - and a dictator's actions and decisions are not subject to any form of legal or political restraints.
Examples of autocracies in the world today (and their dictators)
Famous historical autocratic governments
Sometimes a state may be totalitarian and have a military dictatorship, but possess a collective leadership - such as a commune or soviet.
A monarchy can also be classified as autocratic, if it is an absolute monarchy rather than a constitutional monarchy. For example, England was ruled by an autocratic monarch before the Glorious Revolution of 1688. However, after this, the monarchy shared power with Parliament, in a system which has developed over time into a modern system of governance.
Examples of autocracies in the world today (and their dictators)
- North Korea: Kim Jong Un
- Burma (although it is now beginning to reform): Than Shwe
- China: Hu Jintao
- Zimbabwe: Robert Mugabe
- Saudi Arabia: Crown Prince Abdullah
- Equatorial Guinea: Teodoro Obiang Nguema
- Sudan: Omar Al-Bashir
- Belarus: Alexander Lukashenko
- Turkmenistan: Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow
- Cuba: Raul Castro
- Swaziland: King Mswati III
Famous historical autocratic governments
- Roman Empire
- Nazi Germany
- Medieval England
- Soviet Union
- Tito's Yugoslavia
- Pol Pot's Cambodia
- Saddam Hussein's Iraq
Sometimes a state may be totalitarian and have a military dictatorship, but possess a collective leadership - such as a commune or soviet.
A monarchy can also be classified as autocratic, if it is an absolute monarchy rather than a constitutional monarchy. For example, England was ruled by an autocratic monarch before the Glorious Revolution of 1688. However, after this, the monarchy shared power with Parliament, in a system which has developed over time into a modern system of governance.
