It is a common belief among developed nations that a democratic system is the best way to function as a country and maintain an economy. However, democracy is not unanimously the best system of government for every nation. As political scientist Samuel P. Huntington observed, democracy has not always been the go-to government system. Not only can an authoritarian system maintain high economic growth, but it can also outperform its democratic counterparts. Referring to the growth models that developing nations tend to follow before democratization, the use of a system of authoritarian capitalism has seen a resurgent trend, particularly in China. The authoritarian model has clear advantages over its democratic counterparts, as seen through the revival of the authoritarian model and its combination with capitalism as in the case of China and Russia under Putin, supporting the higher growth rates of authoritarian nations compared to democratic counterparts. For nations like China, what you see throughout history is the basis of government right before authoritarian rule, or even during, communism. While this is not true Marxist communism as it arrests development at the dictatorial stage, it is also one of the effective and proven methods to implement authoritarian rule and thus rapidly push the nation forward. Authoritarian capitalism is currently in the third wave (as stated by Samuel P. Huntington) of authoritarian regimes. To avoid a long description of his theory, Huntington classified modern history as a sinusoidal wave pattern of totalitarian regimes coming to power. What this power structure does is establish a clear regime with the figurehead at the obvious pinnacle of power, but also communication… middle of paper… security. New Left Revision 103.3-41.PDF. January 11, 2014.Schlesinger, Jr., Arthur M., 2004, War and the American Presidency, New York: Norton. January 11, 2014. Shirk, Susan L. The Political Logic of Economic Reform in China. University of California, Berkeley and Los Angeles. 1993. PDF. January 13, 2014. Brooks, Karen M. 1988. The Cooperative Act, Retail Food Prices, and the Agricultural Financial Crisis in the USSR University of Minnesota. Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics. PDF. January 14, 2014., Aslund, Anders. “Is authoritarian capitalism sustainable?” Diplomaatia.ee. Diplomaatia, March 2008.Web. January 13, 2014.History of presidential elections in Russia: infographics. RIA. March 9. 2012. Network. January 12, 2014.Carroll, Joe (05-03-2013). "Russia's oil advantage is tested as taxes strangle drilling". Bloomberg. March 5, 2013. Web. January 14. 2014.