- An absolute ruler.
- A tyrant; a despot.
- An ancient Roman magistrate appointed temporarily to deal with an immediate crisis or emergency.
- One who dictates: These initials are those of the dictator of the letter.
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noun
For more information on dictator, visit Britannica.com.
n.
The chief of a nation that prefers the pestilence of despotism to the plague of anarchy.
It is a paradox that every dictator has climbed to power on the ladder of free speech. Immediately on attaining power each dictator has suppressed all free speech except his own.
— Herbert Clark Hoover (1874-1964).
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A dictator is an autoritarian, often totalitarian ruler (e.g. absolutist or autocratic) who assumes sole power over his state, though the term is normally not applied to those who aquire such position by regular constitutional means, such as a hereditary absolute monarch, except to denote personal abuse of power. The word originated as the title of a magistrate in ancient Rome appointed by the Senate to rule the republic in times of emergency (see Roman dictator and justitium). Like the term tyrant, originally a respectable Ancient Greek title, and to a lesser degree autocrat, it came to be used almost exclusively as a non-titular term for oppressive, even abusive rule, yet had rare modern titular uses.
In modern usage, the term "dictator" is generally used to describe a leader who holds and/or abuses an extraordinary amount of personal power, especially the power to make laws without effective restraint by a legislative assembly. Dictatorships are often characterized by some of these traits: suspension of elections and of civil liberties; proclamation of a state of emergency; rule by decree; repression of political opponents without abiding by rule of law procedures; single-party state, cult of personality, etc.
The term "dictator" is comparable to (but not synonymous with) the ancient concept of a tyrant, although initially "tyrant", like "dictator", did not carry negative connotations. 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.
Roman dictators were usually appointed by the Senate, instead of two collegial Consuls, and invested with sweeping authority over the citizens, but was originally limited to a term-– commonly of six months or the duration of a military conflict-– and lacked power over the public finances. Lucius Cornelius Sulla and Julius Caesar, however, exceeded these limitations and governed without these constraints. The Romans abandoned the institution of dictatorship after Caesar's murder, though his political heir Augustus developed the Principate into a de facto similar, but constitutionally lesser status.
In the system of Roman Republic, a dictator rei gerendae causa was a person temporarily granted superior power over the state during times of war. The office of the Roman dictator was held for only six months. The ideal model was Cincinnatus, who according to tradition was plowing his land when called to dictatorship, saved Rome from invasion and afterwards returned to his labour, renouncing every honour and power, after only three months. Other famous dictatores included Cornelius Sulla and Julius Caesar. Compare with the originally military Roman title, imperator.
Modern dictators have usually come to power in times of emergency. Frequently they have seized power by coup d'état, but some, most notably Benito Mussolini in
Italy and Adolf Hitler in Germany achieved office as head of government by legal means
(election or appointment), and once in office gained
additional extraordinary powers. Mainly Latin American, Asian and African nations, especially developing nations, have known many
dictatorships, usually by military leaders at the head of a junta, either claiming
to constitute a
In popular usage in western nations, "dictatorship" is often associated with brutality and oppression. As a result, it is often also used as a term of abuse for political opponents; for example, 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 create a cult of personality and have come to favor increasingly grandiloquent titles and honours for themselves. E.g., 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, 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" (1940), Charlie Chaplin satirized not only Hitler but the institution of dictatorship itself. Leaders and their regimes very rarely call themselves "dictator(ship)", and usually do not consider themselves to be oppressive, or simply do not admit it.
The association between the dictator and the military is a 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 legitimate; Francisco Franco was a lieutenant general in the Spanish Army before he became Chief of State of Spain; Manuel Noriega was officially commander of the Panamanian Defense Forces. In other cases, the association is mere pretense.
In the former doge-state Venice, while a republic resisting annexation by either the kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia or the Austrian empire, a former Chief Executive (president, 23 March - 5 July 1848), Daniele Manin (b. 1804 - d. 1857), was styled Dictator 11-13 August 1848 before joining the 13 August 1848 - 7 March 1849 Triumvirate.
General Simón Bolívar, the 17 February 1824 - 28 January 1827 Head of state, was acting Dictator until 10 February 1825 when his title changed to Liberator 'Liberator', and on 9 December 1826 again to President-for-Life.
Emilio Aguinaldo, the last President of the Supreme Government Council 23 March 1897 - 16 December 1897 and chairman of the Revolutionary Government from 23 June to 1 November 1897, was dictator from 12 June 1898 - 23 January.
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 Anwar Sadat, Kenneth Kaunda, Józef Piłsudski, Omar Torrijos, Juan and Eva Peron and Fidel Castro have been characterized by their supporters as benevolent dictators.[citation needed]
In Spanish, 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 includes Yugoslavia under Tito or Spain under Francisco Franco. 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 Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Mexico, Peru and Venezuela have at various times been considered régimes by different critics and opposition groups, not necessarily with an academic or political consensus about the application of the term emerging.
In 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. 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).
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Dansk (Danish)
n. - diktator, person der læser diktat
Nederlands (Dutch)
dictator, despoot
Français (French)
n. - (fig, Pol) dictateur
Deutsch (German)
n. - Diktator, Gewalthaber
Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - δικτάτορας
Português (Portuguese)
n. - ditador (m)
Español (Spanish)
n. - dictador, quien dicta
Svenska (Swedish)
n. - diktator, person som dikterar
中文(简体) (Chinese (Simplified))
命令者, 独裁政权执政者, 独裁者
中文(繁體) (Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 命令者, 獨裁政權執政者, 獨裁者
한국어 (Korean)
n. - 독재자, 받아 적게 만드는 사람
日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 独裁者, 威圧的な人, 独裁官, 口授者
العربيه (Arabic)
(الاسم) الديكتاتور, الحاكم المستبد, الحاكم الذي له سلطه مطلقه على بلده وعادة مكتسبه بالقوة ومستخدمه بقساوة
עברית (Hebrew)
n. - רודן, דיקטטור
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