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.

Constitutional Amendments and Referenda

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.

Enabling Acts

Overt legal tactics of democratic erosion are conspicuous uses of formal political institutions by autocrats to consolidate power and weaken democratic constraints. Examples include constitutional changes that entrench favorable rules and enabling acts that transfer lawmaking authority from the legislature to the executive.

Wesleyan University

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Autocrats can take a variety of routes to destabilize a country’s democracy and consolidate power. Tactics can be more overt—such as by amending or even replacing a country’s constitution to their benefit—or they can be more subtle—such as by shifting a country’s political culture in their favor.

Overt and Subtle Approaches to Democratic Erosion

Autocrats can engage in stealth tactics that subtly change the democratic culture of a country but—because of their subtle nature—are difficult to point out as autocratic and effectively resist. Furthermore, because of the gradual nature of democratic erosion, the public may become used to a more autocratic political culture and may not realize how much democracy has weakened until it is too late.

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