Authoritarianism
A government is called authoritarian if it has a strong central government, and rejects the ideas of pluralism. It is between democracy on one side, and totalitarianism on the other.
Monarchies sometimes fit this pattern. As of 2020, examples of countries with authoritarian regimes include the People's Republic of China, Angola, the Republic of the Congo, Laos, Nicaragua and Russia. Several states on the Persian Gulf, such as Saudi Arabia, Oman or Qatar also fit this pattern. However, North Korea is considered totalitarian.
States such as these use strong central power to keep the political status from changing. There are reductions in the rule of law, separation of powers, and democratic voting.
Authoritarianism Media
Honoring South Korean President Park Chung-hee in Army Parade at Armed Forces Day on 1 October 1973
Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev and Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro on 25 October 2019
Democracy Index by the Economist Intelligence Unit, 2022. Green countries are democratic, yellow are hybrid regimes, and red are authoritarian governments.
Benito Mussolini, the founder of Italian Fascism, called his regime the "Totalitarian State": "Everything in the State, nothing outside the State, nothing against the State."
Kim Il-Sung, founder of North Korea, established an authoritarian regime which was modeled after other totalitarian countries.