Difference between revisions of "Dictatorship"

Latest revision as of 02:51, 25 February 2024

A Dictatorship is a type of government ruled by one person, who is either self-appointed or uses a lesser elected position to claim greater power.

History

The term is taken from a Roman title, Dictator, that was often given to a military leader who served as supreme commander of forces in the Roman Republic, usually only appointed during a time of war. This precedent changed with the appointment of Julius Caesar as "dictator for life" by the Roman Senate before he was assassinated by members of the same body.

A dictatorship is often also an Empire, but they are not always interchangeable. Often a dictatorship will try to put up the front of a representative-type of government, using the term "republic" when referring to itself. Dictatorships can rise in a variety of ways, including a military figure seizing control in a coup d'état, a legitimately elected leader declaring absolute power, or a leader using an emergency to declare martial law and then never rescending the emergency powers. "Banana Republic" is a slang term for many small dictatorships that arose in tropical areas like the Caribbean.

Because of the ease with which one dictator can be overthrown by another, many Dictators are very paranoid, leading to bloody purges of potential rivals.

How a dictatorship is managed can vary widely, from having the dictator micromanage everything himself to being run by an inner circle of loyal followers to having all of the trappings of fully functional republic (with the dictator always having the final say on political matters).

Dictatorships are very common, and the ease with which they can come into power means that many countries (modern and ancient) could be classified as dictatorships.

Historical Examples

Dictators

Julius Caeser
Saddam Hussein
Adolf Hitler
Joseph Stalin
Ferdinand Marcos
Benito Mussolini
Kim Jong Un
Vladimir Putin

Dictatorships

Nazi Germany
North Korea
Republic of Iraq
Republic of the Philippines
Fascist Italy
Argentine Republic

Fictional Examples

Dominion (Star Trek)
Galactic Empire (Star Wars)
Earth Alliance (under President Clark) Babylon 5

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-A Dictatorship is a type of government ruled by on person who is either self appointed or uses a lesser elected position to claim greater power.
+A '''Dictatorship''' is a type of government ruled by one person, who is either self-appointed or uses a lesser elected position to claim greater power.
+== History ==
+The term is taken from a [[Roman Empire|Roman]] title, ''Dictator'', that was often given to a military leader who served as supreme commander of forces in the Roman [[Republic]], usually only appointed during a time of war.  This precedent changed with the appointment of Julius Caesar as "dictator for life" by the Roman Senate before he was assassinated by members of the same body.
-== History ==
+A dictatorship is often also an [[Empire]], but they are not always interchangeable.  Often a dictatorship will try to put up the front of a representative-type of government, using the term "republic" when referring to itself.  Dictatorships can rise in a variety of ways, including a military figure seizing control in a coup d'état, a legitimately elected leader declaring absolute power, or a leader using an emergency to declare martial law and then never rescending the emergency powers.  "Banana Republic" is a slang term for many small dictatorships that arose in tropical areas like the Caribbean.
-The term is taken from a Roman title, Dictator, that was often given to a military leader who served as supreme commander of forces in the Roman Republic usually only appointed during a time of war.  This precedent changed with the appointment of Julius Caesar as Dictator For Life by the Roman Senate before he was assassinated by members of the same body.  A dictatorship can often be also an [[Empire]] but they are not always interchangeable.  Often a Dictatorship will try to put of the front of a representive type of government using the term 'Republic' when referring to themselves.  They can rise in a variety of ways including a military figure seizing control in a coup d'état, from an legitimately elected leader declaring absolute power or by using an emergency to declare martial law and then never resending the emergency powers.  Because of the ease with which one Dictator can be overthrown by another, many Dictators are very paranoid leading to bloody purges of potential rivals.
+Because of the ease with which one dictator can be overthrown by another, many Dictators are very paranoid, leading to bloody purges of potential rivals.
-Dictatorships are very common and the ease with which they can come into power means that many modern countries and ancient could be classified as them.
+How a dictatorship is managed can vary widely, from having the dictator micromanage everything himself to being run by an inner circle of loyal followers to having all of the trappings of fully functional republic (with the dictator always having the final say on political matters).
+Dictatorships are very common, and the ease with which they can come into power means that many countries (modern and ancient) could be classified as dictatorships.
 == Historical Examples ==
+===Dictators===
-Dictators
 * Julius Caeser
 * Saddam Hussein
@@ Line 19: / Line 20: @@
 * Ferdinand Marcos
 * Benito Mussolini
+* Kim Jong Un
+* Vladimir Putin
-Dictatorships
+===Dictatorships===
+* [[Nazi Germany]]
-* Nazi Germany
+* North Korea
-* Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
-* North Korea
 * Republic of Iraq
 * Republic of the Philippines
@@ Line 30: / Line 31: @@
 * Argentine Republic
+== Fictional Examples ==
+* [[Dominion]] ([[Star Trek]])
+* [[Galactic Empire]]  ([[Star Wars]])
+* [[Earth Alliance]] (under President Clark) [[Babylon 5]]
-== Fictional Examples ==
+[[Category: Politics]]
+[[Category: History]]