Sentence:  <WSD>Democrats</WSD> have to please a large segment of the voting public and will be punished if they fail to provide public goods.... In the case of autocrats, however, they have to please a small minority of the governing power elite... who will punish them if they fail to dedicate the public purse to their private enrichment. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  Someone who rules a representative democracy.