Benutzer:Cupkake4Yoshi/Dictator

2006-10-11T18:37:11Z

200.41.237.68: /* “The benevolent dictator” */

'''Dictator''' was the title of a [[magistrate]] in [[ancient Rome]] appointed by the [[Roman Senate|Senate]] to rule the state in times of emergency. In modern usage, it refers to an [[Political absolutism|absolutist]] or [[autocratic]] ruler who assumes sole power over the state (though the term is normally not applied to an [[absolute monarch]]; see also [[Oliver Cromwell]]).

Roman dictators were usually appointed by a [[consul]] and were invested with sweeping authority over the citizens, but they were 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.

Modern dictators have usually come to power in times of emergency. Frequently they have seized power by [[coup]], but some, most notably [[Benito Mussolini]] in [[Italy]], [[Adolf Hitler]] in [[Germany]] achieved office as [[head of government]] by legal means (election or appointment) and once in office gained additional extraordinary powers. Under [[Joseph Stalin]], the concentration of power in the [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Communist Party]] in the [[Soviet Union]] developed into a personal dictatorship, but after his death there emerged a system of collective leadership. Latin American and African nations have undergone many dictatorships, usually by military leaders at the head of a [[junta]].

==Classical era==
In the system of [[Roman Republic]], a '''dictator rei gerendae causa''' was a person temporarily granted significant power over the state during times of war. The office was held for only 6 months. The ideal model was [[Cincinnatus]], who according to legend, was plowing when called to dictatorship, saved Rome from invasion, and who afterwards returned to his labour, renouncing every honour and power, after only 3 months. Other famous ''dictatores'' were [[Lucius Sulla]] and [[Julius Caesar]]. See ''[[Roman dictator]]'' and compare with ''[[imperator]]''.

==Modern era==
In modern usage, the term "dictator" is generally used to describe a leader who holds an extraordinary amount of personal power, especially the power to make [[laws]] without effective restraint by a [[legislative assembly]]. It is comparable to (but not synonymous with) the ancient concept of a [[tyrant]], although initially "tyrant," like "dictator," was not a negative term. A wide variety of leaders coming to power in a number of different kinds of regimes, such as [[military junta]]s, [[single-party state]]s, and civilian governments under personal rule, have been described as dictators.

In popular usage in the U.S., "dictatorship" is often associated with brutality and oppression. As a result, it is often also used as a term of abuse for political opponents; [[Henry Clay]]'s dominance of the [[Congress of the United States|U.S. Congress]] as [[Speaker of the House]] and as a member of the [[United States 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. For example, [[Idi Amin|Idi Amin Dada]], who had been a [[United Kingdom|British]] army [[lieutenant]] prior to [[Uganda]]'s independence from [[United Kingdom|Britain]] in October [[1962]], subsequently styled himself as "His Excellency [[President for Life]] Field Marshal Al Hadji Dr. Idi Amin, VC, DSO, MC, [[King of Scotland]] Lord of All the [[Beast]]s of the [[Earth]] and [[Fish]]es of the [[Sea]] and Conqueror of the [[British Empire]] in [[Africa]] in General and Uganda in Particular." In ''[[The Great Dictator]]'', [[Charlie Chaplin]] satirized not only [[Adolf Hitler|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; Francisco Franco was a lieutenant general in the [[Spain|Spanish]] Army before he became [[head of state|Chief of State]] of Spain, and Noriega was officially commander of the [[Panama]]nian Defense Forces. In other cases, this is mere pretense.

==Modern use in formal titles==
===Dictator (plain)===
*[[Italy]]
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.

*[[Peru]]
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.

*[[Philippines]]
[[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]].

*[[Poland]]
** [[Józef Grzegorz Chlopicki]] was dictator from [[5 December]] [[1830]] - December 1830 and again in December 1830 - [[25 January]] [[1831]]
** [[Jan Józef Tyssowski]] was dictator from [[24 February]] [[1846]] - [[2 March]] [[1846]].
**Ludwik Adam Mieroslawski was dictator from [[22 January]] [[1863]] - [[10 March]] [[1863]]
**[[Marian Antoni Melchior Langiewicz]] was dictator from [[10 March]] [[1863]] - [[19 March]] [[1863]]
**An ''Executive Dictatorial Commission'' of three members existed from [[19 March]] [[1863]] - [[20 March]] [[1863]]
**[[Romuald Traugutt]] was dictator from [[17 October]] [[1863]] - [[10 April]] [[1864]]

*[[Russia]] during the Civil War
**Nazarov was dictator of the [[Don Cossack Republics]] (which before, since its founding on [[2 December]] [[1917]] at Novocherkassk, had been governed by a [[Triumvirate]] including the last pre-soviet [[Ataman]], Aleksei Maksimovich Kaledin) from [[11 February]] [[1918]] till [[25 February]] [[1918]] when Bolchevik troops ended their existence
**Prince N. Tarkovsky was dictator of the [[Republic of the Mountain Peoples the Northern Caucasus and Daghestan]], since its founding in Western Daghestan on [[11 May]] [[1918]] till the end of the Turkish occupation (September-November 1918).

===Compound and derived titles===
*'''Dictator President''', twice in modern [[Colombia]]:
**In [[Antioquia Department|Antioquia]], [[30 July]] [[1813]] to 1 or [[5 March]] [[1814]]: Juan Bautista Antonio María del Corral y Alonso Carriazo; continued to [[7 April]] [[1814]] as one of the Presidents of the State ([[27 July]] [[1811]] - July 1815)
**In [[Cartagena de Indias]] (after Presidents of the Supreme Junta of Government since [[13 August]] [[1810]], even before the [[11 November]] [[1811]] declaration of Independence as Province of Cartagena de Indias, [[21 January]] [[1812]] restyled State of Cartagena de Indias; and since [[21 January]] [[1812]] one of them, José María del Real e Hidalgo (d. 1835)), as Governor President of the State), [[1 April]] [[1812]] - [[4 October]] [[1812]]: Manuel Juan Robustiano de los Dolores Rodríguez Torices y Quiroz (b. 1788 - d. 1816)
**cf. supra (Poland) [[19 March]] [[1863]] - [[20 March]] [[1863]] ''Executive Dictatorial Commission'' of three members *

*In [[Paraguay]], in a procession of generally short-lived juntas, the last of the [[Consul]]s of the Republic in power, two consuls alternating in power every 4 months, [[12 June]] [[1814]] - [[3 October]] [[1814]] José Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia y Velasco (2nd time), succeeded himself as the only ever '''Supreme Dictator''' [[3 October]] [[1814]] - [[20 September]] [[1840]] - from [[6 June]] [[1816]] he was styled '''Perpetual Supreme Dictator'''

*'''[[Prodittatore]]''' (''plural:'' '''[[Prodittatori]]''') was the title of the [[governor]]s appointed in [[Sicily]] after Garibaldi's conquest of the island (11 May 1860) till shortly before the 12 December 1860 annexation to the Kingdom of Sardinia:
**23 July - September 17, 1860 Agostino Depretis (b. 1813 - d. 1887)
**17 - end September 1860 Antonio Mordini (b. 1819 - d. 1902)

==“The benevolent dictator”==
The [[benevolent dictator]] is a more modern version of the classical “enlightened [[Despotism|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 [[Adolf Hitler]], [[Benito Mussolini]], [[Francisco Franco]], [[Augusto Pinochet]], [[Anwar Sadat]], [[Kaunda|Kenneth Kaunda]], [[Rahimuddin Khan]], [[Józef Piłsudski]], and [[Omar Torrijos]] have been characterized by their supporters as benevolent dictators.

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 include [[Chile]] under [[Pinochet]], or [[Yugoslavia]] under [[Josip Broz Tito|Tito]]. 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]], and [[Venezuela]] have at various times been considered “democradura” régimes by different critics and opposition groups, not necessarily with an academic or political consensus about the application of the term emerging.

==Dictators in game theory==
In [[game theory]] and [[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.

* ''The strong dictator'' has, for any social goal he/she has in mind (e.g. raise taxes, having someone killed, etc.), a definite way of achieving that goal. This can be seen as having explicit absolute power, like [[Francisco Franco|Franco]] in [[Spain]].

* ''The weak dictator'' has, for any social goal he/she has in mind, and for any political scenario, a course of action that would bring about the desired goal. For the ''weak'' dictator, it is usually not enough to "give her orders", rather he/she has to manipulate the political scene appropriately. This means that the ''weak'' dictator might actually be lurking in the shadows, working within a political setup that seems to be non-dictatorial. An example of such a figure is [[Lorenzo de' Medici|Lorenzo the Magnificent]], who controlled Renaissance [[Florence]].

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. [[Monarch]]s and [[military rule|military dictators]] are also excluded from these definitions, because their rule relies on the consent of other political powers (the [[barons]] or the [[army]]).

==References==
*[http://www.worldstatesmen.org/ WorldStatesmen]
*[http://www.thedictatorship.com The Dictatorship]

==See also==
* [[Dictatorship]]
* [[The Generals]]
* [[Governor-General]]
* [[Head of state]]
* [[Heads of state timeline]]
* [[Junta]]
* [[List of dictators]]
* [[List of Roman dictators]]
* [[Military rule]]
* [[Monarch]]
* [[President]]
* [[Rule by decree]]

[[Category:Emergency laws]]
[[Category:Heads of government]]
[[Category:Heads of state]]
[[Category:Positions of authority|Dictator]]
[[Category:Titles]]


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Wikipedia - Benutzerbeiträge [de]

Benutzer:Cupkake4Yoshi/Dictator