Autocrats don't act like Hitler or Stalin anymore – instead of governing with violence, they use manipulation

President Donald Trump's critics often accuse him of harbouring authoritarian ambitions. Journalists and scholars have drawn parallels between his leadership style and that of strongmen abroad. Some Democrats warn that the U.S. is sliding toward autocracy - a system in which one leader holds unchecked power.

- BY DANIEL TREISMAN Professor of Political Science, University of California, Los Angeles

Others counter that labeling Trump an autocrat is alarmist. After all, he hasn't suspended the Constitution, forced schoolchildren to memorise his sayings or executed his rivals, as dictators such as Augusto Pinochet, Mao Zedong and Saddam Hussein once did.

But modern autocrats don't always resemble their 20th-century predecessors.

Instead, they project a polished image, avoid overt violence and speak the language of democracy. They wear suits, hold elections and talk about the will of the people. Rather than terrorising citizens, many use media control and messaging to shape public opinion and promote nationalist narratives. Many gain power not through military coups but at the ballot box.

The softer power of today's autocrats

In the early 2000s, political scientist Andreas Schedler coined the term "electoral authoritarianism" to describe regimes that hold elections without real competition. Scholars Steven Levitsky and Lucan Way use another phrase, "competitive authoritarianism," for systems in which opposition parties exist but leaders undermine them through censorship, electoral fraud or legal manipulation.

In my own work with economist Sergei Guriev, we explore a broader strategy that modern autocrats use to gain and maintain power. We call this "informational autocracy" or "spin dictatorship."

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These leaders don't rely on violent repression. Instead, they craft the illusion that they are competent, democratic defenders of the nation - protecting it from foreign threats or internal enemies who seek to undermine its culture or steal its wealth.

Hungary's democratic facade