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14 Iustinianus Primus L. Rev. 1 (2023)

handle is hein.journals/iusplr14 and id is 1 raw text is: Marko Krtolica* NON-DEMOCRATIC SYSTEMS: TYPES AND CHARACTERISTICS I. Introduction..........................................1 V. Democratization and the rise of hybrid II. Basic characteristics of non-democratic regimes ....................... ...... .................... 10 sy stem s ........................................................2 V I. C on clusion ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... . .. . ... . . . 14 III. Totalitarian regimes ..................... .....2 IV . Authoritarian regimes ..................... .. ......4 -abstract- While studying political systems nowadays, science usually considers the characteristics of the democratic systems and the systems that transit from non-democratic to democratic. The overall impression is that very little attention is paid to studying the characteristics and the types of non-democratic systems. Such neglect of the characteristics and types of non-democratic systems contributes to the general public ignoring the danger of the rise of such systems. The rise of non-democratic systems in the last two decades in the world is evident and therefore it is important that the basic characteristics and types of non-democratic regimes are clearly elaborated. In that direction, this paper aims to define non-democratic systems, make a clear distinction between totalitarian and authoritarian regimes, and elaborate on the different types of authoritarian regimes. The paper also analyzes the rise of hybrid regimes and their difference from classic authoritarian regimes. Through such an elaboration of the non-democratic systems, the paper concludes that the non-democratic systems possess characteristics and values that are not compatible with the rule of law and the protection of human freedoms and rights, and therefore their progress represents a global threat and danger. Keywords: politics, political system, democracy, totalitarian regimes, authoritarian regimes, hybrid regimes, repression, human rights. I. INTRODUCTION Democracy is the worst form of government - except for all the others that have been tried is a famous quote by Winston Churchill in defining the meaning of democracy for humanity. And indeed, democracy is not the perfect form of government, but it is far better than communism, fascism, absolute monarchy, military regimes, theocracies, etc. However, mankind has had far more experience with non-democratic than with democratic systems. By using absolute sovereignty, absolute monarchs have been absolute masters for centuries, and limited power and the protection of human rights and freedoms were an unknown category. It was the rise of liberal ideology and democracy in the XVIII and XIX centuries that brought an end to the rule of absolute monarchs in most parts of the world. However, the rise of democracy did not lead to the end of undemocratic systems. On the contrary, the XX century witnessed the emergence of brutal totalitarian and authoritarian regimes. The victory over fascism, and especially the victory over communism, contributed to the euphoria that democracy is victorious in the battle with non- democratic systems and that it is the last stop in the development of forms of government. However, such euphoria is completely unjustified when it is considered that even today only 20 * Marko Krtolica, PhD., Assistant Professor, Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje, Iustinianus Primus Faculty of Law, e-mail: m.krotlica@pf.ukim.edu.mk 1

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