Difference between revisions of "Dictatorship"

Revision as of 19:09, 28 September 2012

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. A "Banana Republic" is a slang term used to refer to the many small dictatorships that have arisen 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

Dictatorships

Nazi Germany
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
North Korea
Republic of Iraq
Republic of the Philippines
Fascist Italy
Argentine Republic

Fictional Examples

Dominion (Star Trek)
Galactic Empire (Star Wars)

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 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.
-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.
+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.  A "Banana Republic" is a slang term used to refer to the many small dictatorships that have arisen 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.