While this is true I’m not sure what that has to do with authoritarianism. I think the reasons for incarceration speak far more to what is authoritarian and what isn’t. A thousand people incarcerated for murder isn’t authoritarian, a single person jailed for speech is. The US doesn’t have a perfect track record there but it’s far better than most other countries.
No, its a hallmark of an authoritarian rule, not the proof of one. Believe it or not many places in history have been right bastards and have also been anti-authoritarian (think french revolution, the start of most communist revolutions, etc.) sometimes they are so anti-authoritarian they end up authoritarian.
While this is true I’m not sure what that has to do with authoritarianism. I think the reasons for incarceration speak far more to what is authoritarian and what isn’t. A thousand people incarcerated for murder isn’t authoritarian, a single person jailed for speech is. The US doesn’t have a perfect track record there but it’s far better than most other countries.
An ethnic minority criminalised and prosecuted several times more than the ethnic majority of the country is authoritarian though.
No, its a hallmark of an authoritarian rule, not the proof of one. Believe it or not many places in history have been right bastards and have also been anti-authoritarian (think french revolution, the start of most communist revolutions, etc.) sometimes they are so anti-authoritarian they end up authoritarian.