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Dictator

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Although it originally referred to a clearly-defined magistracy, the term dictator has come to have be a vaguely-defined, connotatively negative word which usually carries overtones of totalitarianism or authoritarianism. It is frequently associated with brutality and oppression.

The Roman Dictator

In the system of Roman Republic term dictator described a person that assumed temporally responsibility for the state, esp. during the war. It used to be 6 month. The same meaning in Poland, was used in modern times, especially during frequent rebellions against oppressors. One person was usually taking full responsibility for the authorities. In some cases, the person was titled dictator

However, in other cases, the term naczelnik meaning head of state was used:

In the last case, the head of state with dictatorship rights, was supposed to organise democratic elections.

The Dictator in Modern Times

File:Iamin.jpg
Many dictators wear elaborate military uniforms with many decorations. Pictured here is 'Field Marshal' Idi Amin Dada of Uganda

In modern times, the term "dictator" is generally used to describe a nation's Head of Government who has assumed an extraconstitutional or unconstitutional degree of power within the State, either by regular or irregular means; in this sense, it is comparable to (but not synonymous with) the ancient definition of a tyrant. As a result, diverse classes of people are described as dictators, from lawfully installed government ministers like Antonio Salazar and Engelbert Dollfuss, to unofficial military strongmen like Manuel Noriega to stratocrats like Francisco Franco and Augusto Pinochet.

In the modern definition, "dictatorship" is associated with brutality and oppression, most notoriously in the cases of Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, and Mao Zedong, who are known to be responsible for the deaths of millions. As a result, it is often used as a term of abuse for political oppponents; Henry Clay's dominance of the U.S. Congress as Speaker of the House and as a member of the U.S. Senate led to his nickname "the Dictator". The term has also come to be associated with megalomania; many dictators have come to favor increasingly grandiloquent titles and honors for themselves. E.g., Idi Amin Dada, who had been an 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, 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". Cf. the self-appointment as "Dictator-for-Life and Ruler Supreme of G.R.O.S.S." of one of the title characters in Bill Watterson's comic strip Calvin & Hobbes. 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; Franco was a lieutenant general in the Spanish Army before he became Chief of State of the Spanish State, and Noriega was officially commander of the Panamanian Defense Forces. In other cases, this is mere pretense; Stalin appointed himself "Generalissimo of the Soviet Union" despite having no real military background.

Types of Dictatorships

Most dictators are installed by coup d'état. In many cases, this is the result of a weak government in poor or otherwise unstable countries; in such circumstances it is quite easy for an organized military cadre to seize control. This almost stereotypical scenario is popularly known as a military dictatorship. Not all dictators are installed through such illegal means, however; Salazar and Dollfuss were economics professors who were lawfully appointed Portuguese prime minister and Austrian chancellor, respectively. The most famous dictator of all, Hitler, was lawfully appointed chancellor by President Paul von Hindenburg, by whom Hitler had been democratically defeated in the presidential elections.

One of the greatest weaknesses of dictatorships like those of Salazar, Dollfuss, and Franco is that they are broadly non-ideological and rely considerably on the personal leadership of the dictator. The result is that the dictator's death effectually puts an end to any sort of consistent policy in government. The prominent "one party state" dictatorship attempts to correct this weakness by concentrating power in the hands of a more or less ideologically homogeneous political party, usually to the extent that other parties are simply outlawed. The most famous monopolistic parties of this type are the National-Socialist German Workers Party (Nazi Party in Germany), the Union of Combat (Fascist Party in Italy), and the Communist Party in a large number of countries; the Communists have been much more successful in using this system than the Nazis or the Fascists, which groups both tended toward a form of quasi-idolatry (see below). Other dictators create a family dictatorship, in which one of their family members (usually a son) assumes leadership of the nation upon the reigning dictator's death. These types of dictatorships rarely last longer than two generations. Often the dictator's heir is inexperienced in governance, and is quickly deposed by rival factions that had been supresssed under the previous regime.

The most difficult dictatorship to classify is the so-called "royal dictatorship". In such cases, the king or queen (or emperor, &c.) acts directly on his or her own behalf in a fashion more or less comparable to the modern conception of a dictator, but it is difficult to see how this differs from the doctrine of monarchical absolutism. One of the most prominent examples of an absolutist monarchy in the modern world is Saudi Arabia, whose king possesses exclusive executive, judicial, and legislative power, and acts as his own prime minister. An older example of a "royal dictator" is Napoléon I, the Emperor of the French.

Many dictators are surprisingly conscious of their public images, and take great pains to portray themselves as capable, heroic, and benevolent. In many cases, this is manifested by enthusiastic use of propaganda and very often by the establishment of a quasi-idolatrous personality cult or "cult of the leader" centered around the greatness and wisdom of the dictator. Fascist Italy provided the quintessential example of this with the famous phrase recited by schoolchildren, "Mussolini is always right". In some cases, this sort of narcissism writ large can seem grotesque and even ludicrous to foreign observers, e.g., the abundance of statues and images of Saddam Hussein in Iraq and of Kim Jong Il and Kim Il Sung in North Korea.

The Benevolent Dictator?

The "benevolent dictator" is a more modern version of the classical "enlightened despot", being an undemocratic 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, Anwar Sadat and Fidel Castro could be characterized as (relatively) benevolent dictators, but in all their cases it depends largely on one's point of view as to just how "benevolent" they were or are. Needless to say, most dictators' regimes unfailingly portray themselves as benevolent dictatorships.

Famous Dictators: A Brief Selection

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