Plural of autocracy; systems of government where a single person holds all the power and rules without needing to answer to laws or the people.
From autocracy, which comes from Greek autos (self) + kratos (power). The term emerged in ancient Greek political philosophy to describe rulers with absolute, unchecked authority.
Most of human history was actually autocracies—kings and emperors ruled because they had power, not because anyone voted for them, which is why democracy is the weird modern experiment that most historical societies would have considered laughably impossible.
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