What is dictatorship? »Its Definition and Meaning

The dictatorship is the name given to a system of government , characterized mainly by the centralization of power in an individual and by nullity of the rights and well-being of the people.According to historians, this system was created in ancient Rome, with Tito Larcio being the first with the title.In addition, it is important to mention that there are various kinds of dictatorship, each with characteristics own, among which can be mentioned the monarchical dictatorship, dictatorship of a single party, single-person dictatorship and hybrid dictatorship.

What is a dictatorship

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The definition of dictatorship refers to a government system where all the powers of a state are centralized in a person or failing that, in a group of them (political party).It is characterized by not allowing them to oppose their decisions or ideas and po r have absolute authority and power.It can be said then that it is an antidemocratic government, where the people have no participation whatsoever.

Taking Republican democracy as an example, power is segmented into three parts , which are the executive power, legislative power and judicial power, because in a dictatorship there is no place for such division of power, since as mentioned, the power falls on a single person or group, an important fact at the time of understand what a dictatorship is.

In the same way it is worth mentioning that the concept of dictatorship also has certain aspects similar to the so-called totalitarian regimes , and that is generally dictatorship is established through force , that is, through threats to those who oppose its regime, coercion, or a coup d'etat.

To understand what It is a dictatorship, it is important to know its history, according to historians, the notion of dictatorship ura in history can be traced back to the time of the great Roman Empire , where it was possible to delegate all power over a person, this was usually done in times of crisis, which by then, were problems that arose because of wars.

Over time, dictatorships were characterized by the presence of a constant element, and it is the military presence , since by means of this force they manage to sustain the dictator, while the military is in charge of suppressing all those who oppose the dictator, in turn, they instill fear in order to avoid dissent.

On the other hand there is also the Constitutional dictatorship concept, named in that way since presumably the dictator respects the provisions of the law, but for what he really does, it is to violate the legislation to be able to exercise his power.Taking into account the meaning of the dictatorship stated above, you can affirm that a dictatorship is any force that executes an imposing domain, an example of this can be reflected in the following sentence: “the dictatorship of the internet is imposed on the youngest”.

What is a dictator

As It must be logical, in a dictatorial system, the government leader is identified under the title of dictator , one of the most common characteristics of the dictator is that they have a strong personality and imposing, which they usually use to suppress freedom of expression and public opinion in general, thereby maintaining their power, while maintaining social and political stability.

In politics, To understand what a dictator is, the first thing to know is that he is a individual (ruler) who assumes the authority of all state powers , and therefore is not under control of any of them.

The dictator is considered the highest authority in any In both civil and military areas, the dictator generally ascends illegitimately to the government, such as by executing a coup d'etat with the military sector, or failing that the military sector is the one who accompanies a civil sector to execute it.The dictator does not respect what is established by justice, but instead does what his will dictates.

One of the best-known dictators in the region was the General of Division, Antonio Lopez of Santa Anna , who was president of Mexico on at least six occasions, but only his last administration is listed as dictatorship of Santa Anna.

Characteristics of a dictatorship

1.Power without limits : As the definition of dictatorship indicates, there is no limit or control over the decisions that the dictator makes.Over the years, dictators have been characterized by crossing the legal and moral limits, without even bothering to give logical arguments that justify the actions they are carrying out.In this way they have committed barbarities, such as mass murders, unjustified deprivation of liberty, disappearance of people, etc.

2.There are no constitutional laws : another of the characteristics of the dictatorship is that due to the fact that there is no division of powers, the laws that are established are those that present the authority figure of who is in power is to say that there are no laws Constitutional The people do not have laws that ensure their safety and well-being, since in general, the constitution is modified to cover the requirements of the dictator and the minority group he represents.

3.Intromision in the private life of people : In general, in dictatorships, the armed forces have the authority or ability to deprive any individual who is considered a threat, they can also request objects and personal data , may even violate private property without any judicial penalty.

4.Fade of the president's figure : Although it seems strange, many times the figure of the dictator is called president.Since the term president is the one used to describe the maximum figure of a democratic government, it can be said that there is a fading of the figure of the chief executive.that even when in certain dictatorships, the dictator is calling "president", he does not have a democratic apparatus that supports him.

5.Control of the mass media : everything dictatorial government is characterized by the supervision of the content that is handled in the media, in the same way it does with its workers, including journalists, thus controlling the information that comes to light and consequently, keeping the control under population through persuasion.

It is common to intervene in this type of media, since it is through them that positive aspects of the dictator are instilled in the population, this often makes the figure of the dictator elevated to that of a protective father that what he wants is the benefit to his people.

6.Back of human rights : in those de facto governments (they are not recognized by no legal norm) the absence of rights It is total of citizens, this includes human rights.In these governments it is possible that there are violent confrontations, such as war, with the sole purpose of justifying the acts of violation of human rights towards the citizens of that State., and can even cross borders by violating the rights of other countries.

7.Control through fear : dictatorships generate and promote the fear of persecution of their citizens.dictatorship controls and dominates the people through terror, dictators instill in the citizen the fear of being persecuted, tortured and even killed, all this if they do not comply with the orders dictated by the dictatorship.

8.The church as a means of domination : another aspect to highlight is the fact that dictatorships throughout history needed spiritual approval, for this reason on several occasions these governments give great power to the church (generally Catholic), and it is said institution that is in charge of "redirecting" again the souls of those people who had diverted their spiritual course.

9.Common mistakes of dictatorships : as a consequence of the fear that they generate in the town and everything that surrounds the dictator, the advisors of said ruler, try as much as possible to avoid expressing any kind of opinion or criticism that differs with those expressed by the president.such reason is created a environment in which errors are recurring and in many cases can be the cause of the end of the regime.

Types of dictatorship

Military dictatorships

It is called dictatorship military to the authoritarian type government that is established in power, through the armed forces , taking full control of those public bodies with legal, executive and legislative character.A military dictatorship usually emerges as a consequence of an unstable social, political and economic situation, which leads the military forces to pronounce themselves against the government in function, also executing what is known as a coup d'etat, in order to eradicate it and establish a new order .

Likewise, it is possible that such a dictatorship will be held after election elections are held, in which the candidate who is the winner is related to the military high command and for that reason it gives them great political power ico.

In general, the arguments given when there is a military dictatorship, is that what is sought with this is to restore stability again in that country , but with the proviso that it will be done through the decree of a state of exception or emergency, which implies a set of violent actions, including the cessation of civil liberties and guarantees of law.

An example of this is the Argentine dictatorship that was installed in 1976, by means of a coup d'etat that occurred on March 24 of that same year, said government was present until in 1983, when Raul Alfonsin was elected through suffrage.

The dictatorship in Venezuela of military type dates back to the 50s, specifically between 1953 and 1958, established by Venezuelan military Marcos Perez Jimenez.Although he is listed as a dictator, his legacy is recognized to date, for the large number of works and advances that occurred during that period, which is why it is known as one of the most emblematic Ibero-American dictatorships.

So also the dictatorship in Chile , known as the military regime, that system of government was established in the country in 1973 and until 1990, this system of government was in force, which makes clear the constant presence of dictatorships in Latin America for several decades.

Dictatorships single party

The definition of single party dictatorship is used to describe another of the variants of the political system that makes up a dictatorial government, characterized mainly by the existence of a single political party .It is possible that there are other political organizations, but with a smaller size and without the possibility of representing a real danger to the objectives of the State.

The dictatorships of the only party, unlike the classical dictatorships, they usually call elections, c on the purpose of having a certain legitimacy.That is why in this type of scenario, the presence of “free elections” does not prove the existence of democracy.In the models of the single party, it is not always necessary to establish the illegality of the opposition parties, since by maintaining control of the opportunities, advantages and institutions of the political order, they can guarantee the continuity of the single party.

Unipartism has certain elements that allow it to be differentiated from other government systems of the same.type, among them we can mention the concentration of power, prevents or denies the right to political alternation , total control of electoral processes, openly interprets democratic principles and laws.It can be divided into Fascist Unipartisanship, Nationalist Unipartisanship, Marxist-Leninist Unipartisanship and Unipartisanship by predominance.

Personalist dictatorships

Dictatorships Customized are regimes where the power falls on a person , this type of dictatorship differs from the rest by the fact of accessing important political positions, and also by being subject, in most cases, at the will of the personalist dictator.In this case the personalist dictator may belong to the high command of a political party, or failing that to the armed force, however neither the political party nor the army exercises their power in a manner independent of the dictator, in the same way in the dictatorship personalized the high positions are usually occupied by the circle close to the dictator (friends and family), who are usually selected by finger to fill these positions.

Monarchical dictatorships

Monarchical dictatorships are those in which the dictator (of royal descent) comes to power thanks to the laws or legal practices that the constitution establishes in This state should clarify that a regime cannot be classified as a dictatorship, if the monarch's position is primarily ceremonial.The monarch must exercise a real political power so that it can be considered a monarchical dictatorship, on the other hand the elites are usually the ones themselves family members of the monarch.

Hybrid dictatorships

The concept of hybrid dictatorship is used to describe the structure of government that merges elements of personalist, military, and single party dictatorships or .When this combination occurs, it is given the name of “triple threat”, being the most frequent forms of hybrid dictatorship, the personalist/single party hybrid and the personalist/military hybrid.

Academically speaking, what is known about hybrid dictatorships is relatively new, their first appearance in the history books was in the texts on the democracy of Philippe Schmitter and Guillermo O'Donnell, where they cite "the Transition of an authoritarian government can generate a democracy or failing that can end in a liberalized authoritarian regime, or in restrictive liberal democracy.

Some of the countries with dictatorships of this type are Singapore and Arab countries , in recent years they have been incorporating elements of democracy such as the constitution, multiparty, representative institutions, legal system of law, among others.

History of thedictatorships of the world

In ancient times in Rome, the dictatorship was seen as an extraordinary institution of unlimited duration , which is used when there were extreme emergency situations, following certain procedures and within constitutional limits, in that way the consular were ordered to appoint a dictator, to take power until the situation is normalized.That title should initially cover a maximum of 6 months, and then extended at 12 months.

The powers granted to the dictator were total , but in the same way the dictator had to answer for his actions before the law, which required a justification after the dictatorship period expired.

According to historians, the dictatorship arises at root of a proposal made by Tito Larcio , who also He was the first to be appointed dictator.The position was appointed to meet u No specific objective and despite the breadth of their powers, they were not limited.

Already with Cesar and Sila, the dictatorship that had been in decline for some time, took a new direction, since it was wide its duration and attributions, which allowed its use for personal goals .The Caesarist connotation, which resembles tyranny rather than the dictatorship you took, had dictatorial figures in the Middle Ages and in the Modern , related to forms of republican government.

The first modern dictatorship was the French Jacobina , established between the years 1793 and 1794, which differed from its predecessors for having the tools of control of a centralized state, in addition to having the support of the people mobilized by the idea of ​​national sovereignty, as well as by the concentration of power in the executive to the detriment of the legislative power.

dictatorship model resulted in different abuses, which far from stopping, they became more and more followed in order to personally exercise the acts of the government.In the Europe of the Middle Ages it decreased because of the feudal distribution of power structures, in the same way with the emergence of modern states In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, a new approach was given to the monarchies.

The perfect dictatorship

The perfect dictatorship is the name of a Mexican film movie which premiered in 2014, belonging to the genre of comedy and political satire.Its director and producer was Luis Estrada, while the libretto was a collaboration between Jaime Sampietro and Estrada himself.Among the actors who participated in the film can be mentioned Damian Alcazar, Maria Rojo, Silvia Navarro, Osvaldo Benavides, Alfonso Herrera, Joaquin Cosio and Salvador Sanchez.

The film makes a strong criticism of the government of former President Enrique Pena Nieto , which for the premiere of the film was still in that position, it was focused on the network of corruption that I establish with the company Televisa, the most important media company in all of America.The perfect dictatorship was recorded at the Mexican Academy of Arts and Sciences Cinematography, representing Mexico in the delivery of the Goya awards of the year 2015.