The Growing Influence of Authoritarianism: A Challenge to Democracy Worldwide

In recent years, authoritarianism has become increasingly popular in the world, challenging the democratic foundations and values. This article aims at analyzing the global tendency toward authoritarianism, at the same time referring to the cases of democratic regression in Hungary, Turkey, and Venezuela. The discussion explores the rationale of such dynamics, which include economic divide, political divide, social divide, technological divide, and globalization divide. Through analyzing various types of authoritarianism, from electoral one to the mixed ones, the article enlightens the reader about the ways such systems undermine the principles of democracy. The article goes on to expand on the effects of authoritarianism to democracy, which are the fading of free elections, freedom of speech, and independent judiciaries. It looks at how authoritarian leaders seek to strengthen their control by controlling the media and quelling protests, on how disinformation and foreign meddlers have influenced a nation’s election. As a result, the article analyzes the efficacy of international organisations and coalitions countering authoritarianism and underlines the necessity to promote democratisation and appreciate civil society within autocratic states. The article ends with a discussion on the future of democracy to stress the necessity of developing strong measures to support the strengthening of authoritative institutions and enhance people’s activity and awareness of the importance of democratic principles. Key words:  Authoritarianism, Democracy, civic engagement, technology, globalization