“History shows that all dictatorships, all authoritarian forms of government are transitory. Only democratic systems are not transitory. Whatever the flaws, humanity has not devised anything superior,” Vladimir Putin once said. With such a view of authoritarianism, one might assume that the entire world is on track to seek such democracy if this is such a clear and correct choice. . However, nothing is ever that simple, and this is not the case. In this essay I will take a look at how authoritarianism fails, and why it is able to prevail in some areas. Authoritarian forms of government sometimes fail. Reasons for such failure include public dissatisfaction with the current government regime, the emergence of a relevant opposition, political negotiation with elites, the physical location and history of freedom in a given nation, and l abandonment of the authoritarian leader. While there are legitimate reasons for the failure of a non-democratic regime and there have been great strides towards a more democratic world, there are also reasons why authoritarianism is able to sustain and survive in some cases. The recent slide from democratic government to non-democratic government, or authoritarianism, depends on many factors. Factors ranging from a state's mineral wealth, to its history of repression, to the fact that many new democracies are small and weak, allow nondemocratic regimes to survive and prevail in some states. One of the first steps towards the failure of authoritarianism is public dissatisfaction. There must be people within the state who are unhappy with the way the undemocratic regime is governing. This type of disapproval sets in motion a movement toward the collapse of the... middle of paper... for representing public interests. So, the elites cash in on the resources while leaving the rest of the nation to suffer. Governments continually evolve and change. What makes a state fail or prevail as undemocratic depends on many things. And, while we cannot be indisputably sure what will happen to a given nation, this document is an overview of some fundamental trends and situations that drive a state to fail or prevail as an authoritarian regime. Only time will tell what is truly in store for the world's governance systems. Works Cited O'Neil, Patrick H., and Ronald Rogowski. "Chapter b6." Essential readings in comparative politics. Third ed. New York: W. W. Norton &, 2006. 205-41. Print.O'Neil, Patrick H. "Chapter 6, Chapter 8." Essential elements of comparative politics. Third ed. New York, NY: W. W. Norton &, 2007. 141-162+. Press.