The Ottawa County commissioners are engaging in textbook authoritarianism: using elements of democracy - laws, regulations, county departments, elected boards, appointed committees - to pursue their agenda without regard for whether it's in the interests of county residents. Whereas democracy is the rule of law, Authoritarianism is the rule by law.

That said, Ottawa County is exceptionally right-wing. The commissioners are doing what the majority of voters want them to do. The problem is that they are ignoring the minority's interests, as opposed to at least trying to implement compromises.