Information AboutDictator |
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In modern usage, ''dictator'' refers to an Absolutist or Autocratic ruler who governs outside the normal constitutional Rule Of Law through a continuous State Of Exception . However unlike the original Roman dictators, modern dictators do not give themselves the title "dictator"; it is generally used by their opponents as a pejorative term for totalitarian rule, just like Despot and Tyrant (also unlike their counterparts in antiquity). However, in several modern republican states, the title has been used officially, usually as an "extraordinary" officer, e.g. revolutionary or to cope with a grave national emergency, generally combining the capacities of Head Of State (formal highest rank and supreme command) and Head Of Government (day to day political power). Dictators often rise to power through a Coup D'état , or by suspending the existing Constitution . Ordinarily democratic nations may temporarily give dictatorial power to leaders during a State Of Emergency . The term is normally not applied to Absolute Monarch s although they generally have the powers of a dictator. States without democratic institutions are often ruled by a series of dictators, taking power from each other in Coup s or Civil War s. Latin American and African nations have undergone many dictatorships, usually by military leaders, either at the head of a Junta or as unelected president by Pronunciemento . In states with established democratic institutions, dictators frequently emerge in times of war, or during an economic or social crisis. Most notably, Benito Mussolini in Italy and Adolf Hitler in Germany , gained power within the framework of democratic politics, and once in power gradually eroded constitutional restraints. In Germany this process started with Hitler's Reichstag Fire Decree of February 28 1933 , and came near to completion with the death of Hindenburg . Often this involves the imposition of a (formal or de facto) Single Party . Under Joseph Stalin , the concentration of power in the Communist Party in the Soviet Union developed into a personal dictatorship, denounced by Khrushchev 's '' On The Personality Cult And Its Consequences '' February 25 1956 speech. In many such states real power rests not with (an) office(s), but can be held without a high formal position, as Deng Xiaoping did in the People's Republic Of China . Classical Rome "Dictator" was the title of the highest Chief Magistrate in Ancient Rome , the only one without a colleague, appointed by the Senate to rule the state in times of emergency. Roman dictators were usually experienced generals and politicians, were invested with sweeping authority over the citizens, but they were originally limited to a term of six months and lacked power over the public finances. Lucius Cornelius Sulla and Julius Caesar , however, abolished these limitations and governed without these constraints. The Romans abandoned the institution of Dictatorship after Caesar's murder, when Augustus quietly consolidated similar powers as Princeps Civitatis , imprecisely known as emperor. In the system of Roman Republic , a dictator rei gerendae causa was an extraordinary magistrate (without a colleague) temporarily granted significant power over the state during times of great threat to the state, as in a defensive war. The office was usually held for only 6 months or a military campaign. The ideal model was Cincinnatus , who according to legend, was plowing when called to dictatorship, saved Rome from invasion, and who afterwards returned to his labour, renouncing every honour and power, after only 16 days. Other famous ''dictatores'' were Lucius Sulla and Julius Caesar . See '' Roman Dictator '' and compare with the Greek '' Tyrannos '' and the later '' Imperator ''. Besides such ruling dictators there also was a symbolic practice of very short senatorial mandate for a religious act considered to sacred to performed by any lesser magistrate Modern use in formal titles Dictator (plain)
Compound and derived titles
Pejorative use in The Great Dictator (1940), a satire of Adolf Hitler and dictatorship regimes in general.]] In modern usage, the term "dictator" is generally used to describe a leader who holds an extraordinary amount of personal power, especially the power to make Laws without effective restraint by a Legislative Assembly , thus detaining '' Auctoritas ''. It is comparable to (but not synonymous with) the ancient concept of a Tyrant , although initially "tyrant," like "dictator," was not a negative term. A wide variety of leaders coming to power in a number of different kinds of regimes, such as Military Junta s, Single-party State s, and civilian governments under personal rule, have been described as dictators. In popular usage in most of the world, " Dictatorship " is often associated with brutality and oppression. As a result, it is often also used as a term of abuse for political opponents; Henry Clay 's dominance of the U.S. Congress as Speaker Of The House and as a member of the United States Senate led to his nickname "the Dictator." The term has also come to be associated with Megalomania . Many dictators create a Cult Of Personality and have come to favor increasingly grandiloquent titles and honours for themselves. For example, Idi Amin Dada , who had been a British army Lieutenant prior to Uganda 's independence from Britain in October 1962 , subsequently styled himself as "His Excellency President For Life Field Marshal Al Hadji Dr. Idi Amin, VC, DSO, MC, King Of Scotland Lord of All the Beast s of the Earth and Fish es of the Sea and Conqueror of the British Empire in Africa in General and Uganda in Particular." In '' The Great Dictator '', Charlie Chaplin satirized not only Hitler but the institution of dictatorship itself. The association between the dictator and the military is a very common one; many dictators take great pains to emphasize their connections with the military and often wear military uniforms. In some cases, this is perfectly natural; Francisco Franco was a lieutenant general in the Spanish Army before he became Chief Of State of Spain, and Noriega was officially commander of the Panama nian Defense Forces. In other cases, this is mere pretense. The "benevolent dictator" The Benevolent Dictator is a more modern version of the classical "enlightened despot," being an absolute ruler who exercises his or her political power for the benefit of the people rather than exclusively for his or her own benefit. Like many political classifications, this term suffers from its inherent subjectivity. Such leaders as Franco , Rosas , Adolf Hitler , Rahimuddin Khan , Rojas Pinilla , Sadat , Tito , and Omar Torrijos have been characterized by their supporters as benevolent dictators. In the Spanish language, the word '' Dictablanda '' is sometimes used for a dictatorship conserving some of the liberties and mechanisms of democracy. (The pun is that, in Spanish, ''dictadura'' is "dictatorship," ''dura'' is "hard" and ''blanda'' is "soft"). Some examples include Chile under Pinochet , or Yugoslavia under Tito . This contrasts with '' Democradura '' (literally "hard democracy"), which is defined as a full formal democracy alongside limitations on constitutional freedoms and human rights abuses, frequently within the context of a civil conflict or the existence of an insurgency. Governments in Argentina , Bolivia , Chile , Colombia , Ecuador , El Salvador , Guatemala , Haiti , Mexico , Spain , and Venezuela have at various times been considered "democradura" regimes by different critics and opposition groups, not necessarily with an academic or political consensus about the application of the term. Dictators in game theory In Game Theory and Social Choice theory, the notion of a dictator is formally defined as a person that can achieve any feasible social outcome he/she wishes. The formal definition yields an interesting distinction between two different types of dictators.
Note that these definitions disregard some alleged dictators, e.g. Benito Mussolini , who are not interested in the actual achieving of social goals, as much as in Propaganda and controlling public opinion. Monarch s and Military Dictators are also excluded from these definitions, because their rule relies on the consent of other political powers (the Nobility or the Army ). See also
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