The Rise of Authoritarianism: Comparing Global Trends and the Impact of Technology on Governance

This large-scale research thoroughly explored the intricate relationship that exists between the different digital authoritarian strategies and the principles of democratic governance. It particularly aimed to explore how the imposition of technological control mechanisms significantly affects indicators like political freedom, public trust, and the regional differences observed in authoritarian practices across the different regions. Employing a strong quantitative research design, data were carefully elicited from a sample of 120 graduate students who were enrolled in different educational institutions within Pakistan. This was achieved by employing a self-administered Likert-scale questionnaire that provided a structured means of obtaining their perceptions and opinions. In order to establish the relationships that exist between the technological control mechanisms and the different governance indicators, a set of statistical analyses were employed. These analyses comprised regression, multiple regression, ANOVA, and correlation techniques. The findings that were obtained from this large-scale analysis identified significant noteworthy regional differences in the authoritarian practices that implied digital surveillance has a negative effect on public trust in democratic organizations.