Authoritarian Leadership

To begin this discussion, let us first define the key terms needed. Authoritarian is a "type of government which the ruler demand unquestioning obedience from its people" that they govern.(Macmillan 30). In other words, the people who are being ruled, have no choice but to be obedient to their leader even if they do not agree with him or her. While democracy can be defined in Greek as "rule by the people." In other words, it is based on the people 's votes, where the majority votes wins, whereas, if an election is to be held, with regards to a decision, for example capital punishment, if majority of the voters agree to it, then capital punishment will take effect as a means of punishing criminals. Usually, the Executive which is said to reflect a semi-presidential system, has two main roles where the president is elected directly by the people and the Prime Minister appointed by the president. This is evident in post-communist Russia, when President Putin was elected by the people in adult suffrage elections. This system creates "a certain amount of tension between the president and the prime minister, especially if they do not share the same political party or the same political ideas." (Munroe 91). This is evident when Voloshin resigned while Yeltsin was in power and was later reappointed by Putin after Yeltsin had resigned. Post communist Russia is deemed as being more authoritarian than democratic as its governmental style has more characteristics of that of authoritarian, where its president has more power than other official posts in its society. The structure of the Post communist Russia differs significantly from that of the former soviet union. It has been characterized by a power struggle between the executive and the legislature branches, primarily over issues of constitutional authority and the pace and direction of democratic and economic reform. Conflicts started in September 2003, when President Yeltsin dissolved the Russian parliament (the

Cited: Britanica.com: Administration and Social Conditions Munroe, Trevor. An Introduction to Politics.Third Edition, 2002 Mclean, Iain, ed.The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Politics.Oxford Press.