Information AboutAutocratic |
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Autocracy is a Form Of Government where unlimited Political Power is held by a single individual. An Emperor may rise to power through heredity, but is referred to as an autocrat rather than a Monarch when his power overshadows his bloodline. The term ''autocrat'' is derived from the Greek word ''autokratôr'' (lit. "self-ruler", "ruler of one's self"). Today it is usually seen as synonymous with '' Despot '', '' Tyrant '' and/or '' Dictator '', though each of these terms originally had a separate and distinct meaning (see their respective articles). ''Autocracy'' and ''monocracy'' are considered synonyms by most dictionaries, although the term ''monocracy'' is more often used to refer to a form of government ruled by a Monarch rather than any single ruler. The principal titles of what modern historians call the " Roman Emperor s" were '' Imperator '', '' Caesar '', and '' Augustus ''; the latter two words were transliterated into Greek as ''kaisar'' and ''augoustos'', while the existing word ''autokratôr'' was substituted for the former. When the Emperor Heraclius introduced the " Byzantine " system of co-emperors, the senior emperor (or, in the absence of a co-emperor, the sole emperor) took the title ''autokratôr'', although the junior emperor also began to take that title in the 14th Century under the Palaeologi . In keeping with the contention of the rulers of Imperial Russia that Moscow was the " Third Rome " (after Constantinople and Rome ), the formal title of the Russian Tsar was ''Imperator i Samodyerzhets Vserossiysky'' ("All-Russian Emperor and Autocrat"). The Absolutist rule of the Russian Tsars is probably chiefly responsible for the modern meaning of the words "autocrat" and "autocracy". Compare with Oligarchy (rule by a minority, by a small group) and Democracy (rule by the majority, by the people). See also |