What are autocracies?

An autocracy is when one person has almost all the power in a country.

Imagine you're playing a game where everyone has to follow your rules, and if they don't like it, they can’t change the rules or even talk about them. That’s kind of what happens in an autocracy. One leader makes most of the decisions for everyone else.

Think of it like being the boss of a big playground. You decide who plays which game, when they get to take breaks, and even how long recess lasts. If someone disagrees with you, they might not be able to say anything about it, or maybe they have to ask your permission first.

A country called Russia had an autocracy for a while, where one person made most of the decisions for the whole country, just like being the boss of that big playground. People didn’t always get to choose what happened, the leader did.