Answer :
Final answer:
The nation has transitioned from a democracy, which permits individual freedoms and democratic elections of leaders, to an autocracy, where the ruler has absolute power and no requirement to be democratically elected, thus decreasing individual freedoms.
Explanation:
Transition from Democracy to Autocracy
If a nation was formally controlled by elected rulers who generally allowed for individual freedom and now has shifted to a system where the ruler has absolute power and attempts to control all aspects of society, the accurate statement about this nation is that it has transitioned from a democracy to an autocracy. This means the previous margin of individual freedoms permitted under democracy has been abolished, and the centralization of power has negated the concept of elected leadership, paving the way for autocratic control. In an autocratic regime, the ruler's power is absolute, entailing no limit on authority and no necessity for the leader to be elected by the popular vote.
Autocracies contrast sharply with democratic governance where citizens have the ability to vote for their leaders and influence governmental direction. Forms of autocratic rule can include totalitarianism, where the state's power is dominant over all aspects of an individual's life; monarchies, especially in the form of absolute monarchies where a monarch has full control and authoritarian governments which limit the political freedoms of the population. In essence, a shift from a democracy where a constitution generally outlines the foundational ideas of governance to an autocratic state represents a decrease in personal liberties and political pluralism.
