Short answers, pulled from the story.
Autocracy is a form of government where a single ruler or small group holds absolute power, often established through the stationary bandit concept introduced by economist Mancur Olson in 1971. This system allows the ruler to tax and extract resources without destroying the productive capacity of the people, creating a form of Pareto efficiency compared to anarchy.
The first empire, the Akkadian Empire, was conquered by Sargon of Akkad in the 24th century BCE, marking a shift where the king became both a political and religious leader. This development followed the city-states of Mesopotamia that first developed around the 35th century BCE.
Autocrats maintain power through political repression of any opposition and the co-optation of other influential or powerful members of society. They control the general public through indoctrination and propaganda while balancing the need for elite support with the necessity of preventing any rival from gaining influence.
Some autocracies establish hereditary succession in which a set of rules determines who will be the next autocrat, while others allow a successor to be handpicked by the autocrat or another governmental body. Autocracies with no appointed successor face a power struggle upon the death or removal of the autocrat, making succession the most volatile moment in any autocracy.
Totalitarian autocracies engage in direct control of citizens' lives and do not allow political or cultural pluralism, often associated with communist states and Nazi Germany. Authoritarian governments maintain control of a nation purely through repression and controlled opposition rather than mandated adherence to a state ideology, including most traditional monarchies and military dictatorships.
Collection of information on autocratic regimes has improved in the 21st century, allowing for more detailed analysis of their effects on a country's politics and bureaucracy. Modern typology of autocratic regimes originates from the work of Juan Linz in the mid-20th century, with the first general theory of autocracy created by Gordon Tullock in 1974.