What is Authoritarian rule?

Question

What is Authoritarian rule?

Answer

Authoritarian rule can be defined as a system where one party rules indefinitely, this is often but not always maintained using military force to keep any opposition in check. Common characteristics of an authoritarian system include: restricted freedom of speech and freedom of the press, restricted movement both within and across the border, weak judicial systems and excessive punishment of those who oppose the system. This allows the ruling party to exploit the fear of the public in a way that keeps them subdued.

One example of authoritarian rule would be China where it is illegal to form a political party, freedom of speech is limited and numerous western media group as well as social networking sites are banned. For example, Twitter has been banned and the Chinese public is instead, expected to use Sina Weibo, the Chinese equivalent. In line with the aforementioned freedom of speech limitations, a number of controls are in place in regards to what can be posted, all negative political messages will be manually deleted by administrators and links to numerous western sites are black listed. As well as this, there have been numerous cases of citizens being imprisoned after publicly airing their disapproval of the regime.

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