dictatorship
One person governs
A dictatorship is a government in which one person or small group holds absolute power, typically maintained through force rather than consent.
The term also describes the period of such rule: under the dictatorship, during the military dictatorship.
By extension, any situation where one person exercises unchecked control: Her kitchen was a dictatorship.
Absolute one-person rule
- autocratSole wielder of power
- strongmanPowerful lifter or despot
- absolutismUnrestricted governmental authority
- authoritarianismConcentrated, unchecked governmental power
oppression · suppression · censorship · propaganda · indoctrination · coercion · intimidation · surveillance
Systematic observation of subjects
- propagandaBiased information for influence
- indoctrinationSystematic uncritical belief instillation
- censorshipOfficial content restriction
- ideologyStructured belief framework
conformity · uniformity · brainwashing · secret-police · dystopia · newspeak · doublethink · thoughtcrime
Post-coup ruling clique
- kleptocracyState-sponsored looting system
- oligarchyRule by few
- theocracyRule by religious authority
- administrationOrganizational oversight and control
governance · leadership · dynasty · rule · sovereignty · autarchy · bureaucracy · apparatus
Post-coup ruling clique
- caudilloHispanic authoritarian leader
- PinochetChilean military autocrat
- oligarchyRule by few
- exploitationSelfish use of others
cronyism · strongman · generalissimo · torture · Chile · Argentina · Brazil · Venezuela
Muslim royal ruler
- tsarRussian absolute monarch
- pharaohAncient Egyptian ruler
- emperorMale ruler of empire
- kingMale crowned ruler
sovereign · monarch · autocracy · throne · dynasty · hereditary · crown · imperial
Cruel, absolute ruler
- despotRuler with absolute power
- oppressionUnjust exercise of power
- brutalitySavage, merciless behavior
- repressionUnconscious blocking of thoughts
persecution · cruelty · terror · subjugation · exploitation · domination · inhumanity · terrorization
Disagreement with authority
- oppositionActive resistance or dissent
- undergroundBelow ground or countercultural
- samizdatClandestine dissident publishing
- exileBanishment from homeland
asylum · refugee · protest · defection · resistance · uprising · rebellion · dissident
Forcible removal from power
- putschForcible government overthrow attempt
- juntaPost-coup ruling clique
- revolutionViolent governmental overthrow
- insurrectionViolent uprising against authority
mutiny · uprising · takeover · usurpation · conspiracy · plotters · sedition · revolt
Totalitarian Communist doctrine
- LeninismVanguard-led revolutionary doctrine
- MarxismClass-based revolutionary philosophy
- BolshevismLenin's revolutionary communist ideology
- MaoismPeasant-centered communist doctrine
totalitarian · purges · collectivization · NKVD · Stasi · party · proletariat · Kim
despotism
Absolute one-person rule
- autocratSole wielder of power
- strongmanPowerful lifter or despot
- absolutismUnrestricted governmental authority
authoritarianism · oppression · suppression · censorship · propaganda · indoctrination · coercion · intimidation · surveillance · repression
surveillance
Systematic observation of subjects
- propagandaBiased information for influence
- indoctrinationSystematic uncritical belief instillation
- censorshipOfficial content restriction
ideology · conformity · uniformity · brainwashing · secret-police · dystopia · newspeak · doublethink · thoughtcrime · Orwellian
junta
Post-coup ruling clique
- kleptocracyState-sponsored looting system
- oligarchyRule by few
- theocracyRule by religious authority
administration · governance · leadership · dynasty · rule · sovereignty · autarchy · bureaucracy · apparatus · cadre
junta
Post-coup ruling clique
exploitation · cronyism · strongman · generalissimo · torture · Chile · Argentina · Brazil · Venezuela
sultan
Muslim royal ruler
king · sovereign · monarch · autocracy · throne · dynasty · hereditary · crown · imperial · palace
tyrant
Cruel, absolute ruler
- despotRuler with absolute power
- oppressionUnjust exercise of power
- brutalitySavage, merciless behavior
repression · persecution · cruelty · terror · subjugation · exploitation · domination · inhumanity · terrorization · atrocity
dissent
Disagreement with authority
- oppositionActive resistance or dissent
- undergroundBelow ground or countercultural
- samizdatClandestine dissident publishing
exile · asylum · refugee · protest · defection · resistance · uprising · rebellion · dissident · activist
overthrow
Forcible removal from power
- putschForcible government overthrow attempt
- juntaPost-coup ruling clique
- revolutionViolent governmental overthrow
insurrection · mutiny · uprising · takeover · usurpation · conspiracy · plotters · sedition · revolt · clandestine
Stalinism
Totalitarian Communist doctrine
- LeninismVanguard-led revolutionary doctrine
- MarxismClass-based revolutionary philosophy
- BolshevismLenin's revolutionary communist ideology
Maoism · totalitarian · purges · collectivization · NKVD · Stasi · party · proletariat · Kim · Castro
- governancegovernance, government, democracy, vote, parliament
- governmentsdemocracy, monarchy, autocracy, oligarchy, republic
- authorityleaders, ruler, rulers, monarch, bosses
- communismMarx, Marxism, Leninism, Lenin, proletariat
- German HistoryNazi, Prussia, Saxony, Reichstag, Napoleonic Wars
- German PoliticsBundesrat, CSU, Nazi Party, Greens, federal republic
dictatorshipdemocracy
Rule by the people
republic · self-government · self-rule · constitutional government · parliamentary democracy
dictatorshipfreedom
Absence of constraint
liberty · autonomy · free society · emancipation · open society
dictatorshipconstitutional democracy
Rule by people, bounded by law
rule of law · consent of the governed · constitutionalism · limited government · checks and balances
- military dictatorshipRegime ruled by armed forces
- tin-pot dictatorshipWeak authoritarian state
- dictatorship of the proletariatLaboring class governing authority