Which countries practice dictatorship?

Answer 1

Currently (August 2012) Cuba and North Korea are both dictatorships, although both profess to be communist/socialist. Many countries in the Middle East prior to January 2011 also had de facto dictatorships (generally the ruler was referred to as a monarch) that were kept in power by the military and a select group of elite and wealthy families. The Arab Spring of 2011 has swept a number of these individuals out of power (Tunisia, Egypt, Libya) and several others had to make serious concessions to the general population to stay in power.

Answer 2

Country is governed by single-party hierarchy that does not allow for effective popular opposition.

Africa

• Algeria (elements of military rule)

• Burkina Faso

• Cameroon

• Chad (elements of military rule)

• Republic of Congo

• Djibouti

• Egypt

• Equatorial Guinea (elements of military rule)

• Eritrea (all opposition banned; the constitution, ratified in May 1997, did not enter into effect, pending parliamentary and presidential elections; parliamentary elections had been scheduled in December 2001, but were postponed indefinitely)

• Ethiopia

• Gabon

• The Gambia

• Guinea (elements of military rule)

• Libya (all opposition banned; elements of military and theocratic rule)

• Mauritania (elements of military rule)

• Rwanda (elements of military rule)

• Togo (elements of military rule)

• Tunisia

• Uganda (elements of military rule)

• Zimbabwe (elements of military rule)

Asia

• Azerbaijan

• Iran (authoritarian republic, theocracratic elements)

• Kazakhstan

• Kyrgyzstan

• Maldives (opposition effectively banned)

• Pakistan (elements of military and theocratic rule)

• Syria (elements of military rule)

• Tajikistan (chronic political turmoil)

• Turkmenistan (all opposition banned; totalitarian one-man dictatorship)

• Uzbekistan

• Yemen

Europe

• Belarus

Military governments

In which a country is governed by the military which has seized control of the nation's political institutions.

• Central African Republic

• Myanmar (known by opponents of the regime by the old name Burma)

• Sudan (elements of theocratic rule, anarchy)

Answer 3

The question is very subjective. Even democracies can be governed dictatorially. Many countries in the world will not admit to being autocratic. Cuba for example has a military Dictatorship but in spite of its history, economic sanctions and frugality, it treats its citizens humanely. It is not a secretive State. The same cannot be said about North Korea which is controlled as an exclusive and threatening state. The dictatorship is hostile and the country is perceived as dangerous not just to its neighbours but to its own citizens and to the security of the world. It is a State which is not dissimilar to a religious cult which demands unquestioning obedience to the point of death. Belarus is another dictatorship. I am not sure about Albania. But consider Iran and Syria and many other Middle Eastern States who practice forms of dictatorship under a semi democratic guise. It is interesting to note that the practice of individual dictators is generally rooted in a crazed lust for personal power and wealth. They deceive their subjects with words and are either obsessively atheistic or obsessive religious fanatics. One or the other.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

There are several countries today that practice dictatorship today. They include...

• Belarus
• North Korea
• Syria
• Iran
• Cuba
• Mauritania
• Central African Republic
• Rwanda
• Djibouti
• Republic of the Congo
• The Gambia
• Ethiopia
• Eritrea
• Chad
• Sudan
• Burkina Faso
• Swaziland
• Uganda
• Cameroon
• Zimbabwe
• Angola
• Equatorial Guinea

As you can tell, almost all dictatorships are present in the continent of Africa. One present in Europe, one in North America, and three in Asia.