An authoritarian state can be defined as the government of a powerful figure or a group. While in democracy, active involvement of citizens is required in political issues; in authoritarian states participation it is either denied or curtailed. In those societies, mostly there is no legitimization and consent of power. Dictatorships and oligarchies are forms of authoritarian states. Usually, social order is provided by oppression. Societies, which are late in the modernization process, might have military dictatorships.