Organization

dictatorship

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Overview

A dictatorship is a form of government which is characterized by a leader who holds absolute or near-absolute political power. Politics in a dictatorship are controlled by a dictator, and they are facilitated through an inner circle of elites that includes advisers, generals, and other high-ranking officials. The dictator maintains control by influencing and appeasing the inner circle and repressing any opposition, which may include rival political parties, armed resistance, or disloyal members of the dictator's inner circle. Dictatorships can be formed by a military coup that overthrows the previous government through force or they can be formed by a self-coup in which elected leaders make their rule permanent. Dictatorships are authoritarian or totalitarian, and they can be classified as military dictatorships, one-party dictatorships, and personalist dictatorships.

From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Notable quotes

“Dictators ride to and fro upon tigers which they dare not dismount. And the tigers are getting hungry.”
— Sir Winston Churchill, letter dated November 11, 1937, Step by Step: 1936-1939 (London: Odhams Press, 1949) p. 174.
“Under dictatorship, the people in prison are always superior to the people who put them there.”
— Evan Esar, 20,000 Quips and Quotes.
“*In situations of de facto diversity, attempts to impose a single way of life on an entire population is a formula for dictatorship.”
— Francis Fukuyama, "Liberalism and its Discontents: The challenges from the left and the right" (5 October 2020), American Purpose
“Dictatorship rests on control of the military.”
— Timothy K. Kuhner, Capitalism v. Democracy: Money in Politics and the Free Market Constitution (Stanford Law Books: 2014), p. 261. The cited definition is from Michael Walzer, Spheres Of Justice: A Defense Of Pluralism And Equality (Basic Books: 1984), p. 316.
“The dictatorships, whether Fascist or Bolshevist, have been able to conceal their innumerable defeats only by ruthlessly using both the gag and the lie.”
— Lucien Laurat, Marxism and Democracy, 1940, published by the , Victor Gollancz Ltd, London; translated by Edward Fitzgerald. Text online at the .
“The nation does not hold democratic elections.”
— wikipedia:NationStates, description of the "Autocracy" policy.

Quotes via Wikiquote (CC BY-SA), each with its original source.

On IJR

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Overview

A dictatorship is a form of government which is characterized by a leader who holds absolute or near-absolute political power. Politics in a dictatorship are controlled by a dictator, and they are facilitated through an inner circle of elites that includes advisers, generals, and other high-ranking officials. The dictator maintains control by influencing and appeasing the inner circle and repressing any opposition, which may include rival political parties, armed resistance, or disloyal members of the dictator's inner circle. Dictatorships can be formed by a military coup that overthrows the previous government through force or they can be formed by a self-coup in which elected leaders make their rule permanent. Dictatorships are authoritarian or totalitarian, and they can be classified as military dictatorships, one-party dictatorships, and personalist dictatorships.

From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Notable quotes

“Dictators ride to and fro upon tigers which they dare not dismount. And the tigers are getting hungry.”
— Sir Winston Churchill, letter dated November 11, 1937, Step by Step: 1936-1939 (London: Odhams Press, 1949) p. 174.
“Under dictatorship, the people in prison are always superior to the people who put them there.”
— Evan Esar, 20,000 Quips and Quotes.
“*In situations of de facto diversity, attempts to impose a single way of life on an entire population is a formula for dictatorship.”
— Francis Fukuyama, "Liberalism and its Discontents: The challenges from the left and the right" (5 October 2020), American Purpose
“Dictatorship rests on control of the military.”
— Timothy K. Kuhner, Capitalism v. Democracy: Money in Politics and the Free Market Constitution (Stanford Law Books: 2014), p. 261. The cited definition is from Michael Walzer, Spheres Of Justice: A Defense Of Pluralism And Equality (Basic Books: 1984), p. 316.
“The dictatorships, whether Fascist or Bolshevist, have been able to conceal their innumerable defeats only by ruthlessly using both the gag and the lie.”
— Lucien Laurat, Marxism and Democracy, 1940, published by the , Victor Gollancz Ltd, London; translated by Edward Fitzgerald. Text online at the .
“The nation does not hold democratic elections.”
— wikipedia:NationStates, description of the "Autocracy" policy.

Quotes via Wikiquote (CC BY-SA), each with its original source.