Autocrats have historically utilized enabling acts—in which legislatures cede law-making authority to the executive—as a means of providing them with complete power over a political system. The most infamous enabling act was Hitler’s Enabling Act of 1933, though Viktor Orbán was empowered by an enabling act during the COVID-19 pandemic as well.

Wesleyan University

If an autocrat has overwhelming public support and the necessary political resources, they might engage in radical tactics to undermine a country’s democracy.

Overt and Radical Changes to a Country’s Democracy

Scheppele, K. L. & Pozen, D. (2020). Executive Overreach and Underreach in the Pandemic. In M. P. Maduro & P. W. Kahn (Eds.), Democracy in Times of Pandemic: Different Futures Imagined. (pp. 38-53). New York: Cambridge University Press. 

Scheppele and Pozen (2020)

One of the most drastic ways for autocrats to consolidate power—and one of the most effective—is to pass constitutional amendments or entirely new constitutions to their benefit. This way, even if their opponents take back power, it is difficult for them to undo the legal changes that autocrats passed because constitutional amendments normally require large majorities of support. Autocrats who have pursued constitutional changes successfully include Hugo Chávez in Venezuela and Viktor Orbán in Hungary.

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