Representation: Democracy / Autocracy

What this axis explores

Democracy emphasizes participation, competitive elections, opposition, deliberation and institutional restraints. Autocracy emphasizes concentrated leadership, inherited authority, rule by experts or continued government without competitive popular authorization.

How the questions explore the axis

Statements ask about elections, secret voting, constitutional courts, referendums, recall, citizens’ assemblies, technocratic appointment, monarchy and exceptional executive power. Each answer concerns a mechanism of political authority, rather than whether the current holder of that authority is liked.

A preference for effective administration is not automatically a preference for autocracy. The questionnaire asks which safeguards and forms of participation should survive disagreements or difficult circumstances. Try separating an institution from its present officeholder. Would you retain an election, an opposition party or a court’s review power when it produces an outcome you dislike? That distinction helps clarify whether an answer concerns accountability or a preferred political outcome.