Liberal autocracy

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A liberal autocracy is a non-democratic government that follows the principles of liberalism. Until the twentieth century, "most countries in Western Europe were liberal autocracies, or at best, semi-democracies."^[1] One example of a "classic liberal autocracy" was the Austro-Hungarian Empire.^[2] According to Fareed Zakaria, a more recent example is Hong Kong, until July 1, 1997, which was ruled by the British Crown. He says that until 1991 "it had never held a meaningful election, but its government epitomized constitutional liberalism, protecting its citizens' basic rights and administering a fair court system and bureaucracy."

The existence of real liberties in many of these autocracies is very questionable. Nineteenth century autocracies often abolished feudal institutions like serfdom, guilds, privileges for the nobility, and inequality before the law. However, freedom of speech and freedom of association were at best limited. Hong Kong is arguably a special case, where during the latter stages of British colonial rule there were considerable freedom of speech and freedom of association, but also the common knowledge that China would not allow an independent state with free elections.