Dictator
Dictator was the title of a
magistrate in
ancient Rome appointed by the
Senate to rule the state in times of emergency. In modern usage, it refers to an
absolutist or
autocratic ruler who assumes sole power over the state (though the term is normally not applied to an
absolute monarch; see also
Oliver Cromwell).
Roman dictators were usually appointed by a
consul and 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 emperor.
Modern dictators have usually come to power in times of emergency. Frequently they have seized power by
coup, but some, most notably
Benito Mussolini in
Italy and
Adolf Hitler in
Germany, achieved office by legal means and once in power gradually eroded constitutional restraints. Under
Joseph Stalin, the concentration of power in the
Communist Party in the
Soviet Union developed into a personal dictatorship, but after his death there emerged a system of collective leadership. Latin American and African nations have undergone many dictatorships, usually by military leaders at the head of a
junta.
In the system of
Roman Republic, a
dictator rei gerendae causa was a person temporarily granted significant power over the state during times of war. The office was held for only 6 months. 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 3 months. Other famous
dictatores were
Lucius Sulla and
Julius Caesar. See
Roman dictator and compare with
imperator.
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. 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 juntas,
single-party states, and civilian governments under personal rule, have been described as dictators.
In popular usage in the U.S., "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
Beasts of the
Earth and
Fishes 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
Panamanian Defense Forces. In other cases, this is mere pretense.
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,
Pinochet,
Sadat,
Tito,
Kaunda,
Pilsudski 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"), characterized by 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 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 emerging.
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.
*
The strong dictator has, for any social goal he/she has in mind (e.g. raise taxes, having someone killed, etc.), a definite way of achieving that goal. This can be seen as having explicit absolute power, like
Franco in
Spain.
*
The weak dictator has, for any social goal he/she has in mind, and for any political scenario, a course of action that would bring about the desired goal. For the
weak dictator, it is usually not enough to "give her orders", rather he/she has to manipulate the political scene appropriately. This means that the
weak dictator might actually be lurking in the shadows, working within a political setup that seems to be non-dictatorial. An example of such a figure is
Lorenzo the Magnificent, who controlled Renaissance
Florence.
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.
Monarchs and
military dictators are also excluded from these definitions, because their rule relies on the consent of other political powers (the
barons or the
army).
*
The Generals*
Dictatorship*
Governor-General*
Head of state*
Heads of state timeline*
Junta*
List of Roman dictators*
List of dictators*
Military rule*
Monarch*
President*
Rule by decree
