Authoritarianism is a form of government characterized by strong central power and limited political freedoms. Juan Linz's influential 1964 description of authoritarianism characterized authoritarian political systems by four qualities: 1. \n* limited political pluralism; that is, such regimes place constraints on political institutions and groups like legislatures, political parties and interest groups; 2. \n* a basis for legitimacy based on emotion, especially the identification of the regime as a necessary evil to combat "easily recognizable societal problems" such as underdevelopment or insurgency; 3. \n* minimal social mobilization most often caused by constraints on the public such as suppression of political opponents and anti-regime activity; 4. \n* informally defined executive power with often vague and shifting powers.

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