dictatorships
One-person rule systems
Dictatorships are governments in which a single ruler or small group holds absolute power, typically without constitutional limits or meaningful elections.
The term emphasizes the system rather than the individual: Military dictatorships ruled much of Latin America in the 1970s.
Dictatorship can also describe any situation where someone exercises total control: Her kitchen was run like a dictatorship.
Rule by one
- despotismAbsolute one-person rule
- juntaPost-coup ruling clique
- oligarchyRule by few
- strongmanPowerful lifter or despot
absolute rule · one-party state · military rule · police state · martial law · centralization · consolidation · succession
Unconscious blocking of thoughts
- suppressionForcible prevention or concealment
- coercionPressured compliance through threats
- intimidationDeliberate fear-inducing pressure
- surveillanceSystematic observation of subjects
secret police · crackdown · purge · curfew · censorship · propaganda · indoctrination · state media
State controls everything absolutely
- fascismUltranationalist dictatorial political system
- StalinismTotalitarian Communist doctrine
- MaoismPeasant-centered communist doctrine
- NazismGerman fascist totalitarianism
authoritarianism · nationalism · jingoism · cult of personality · personality cult · ideology · indoctrination · reeducation
Oppressive, absolute governance
- subjugationForcing into submission
- persecutionSystematic mistreatment of groups
- human rights violationsBreaches of basic dignities
- political prisonersPeople jailed for ideology
torture · disappearances · atrocities · genocide · ethnic cleansing · forced labor · gulag · concentration camp
State-sponsored looting system
- nepotismPreferring kin in hiring
- cronyismFavoring friends in appointments
- embezzlementFraudulent taking of entrusted assets
- plunderGoods seized violently
looting · exploitation · patronage · bribery · offshore accounts · luxury · excess · inequality
autocracy
Rule by one
strongman · absolute rule · one-party state · military rule · police state · martial law · centralization · consolidation · succession · coup
repression
Unconscious blocking of thoughts
- suppressionForcible prevention or concealment
- coercionPressured compliance through threats
- intimidationDeliberate fear-inducing pressure
surveillance · secret police · crackdown · purge · curfew · censorship · propaganda · indoctrination · state media · information blackout
totalitarianism
State controls everything absolutely
- fascismUltranationalist dictatorial political system
- StalinismTotalitarian Communist doctrine
- MaoismPeasant-centered communist doctrine
Nazism · authoritarianism · nationalism · jingoism · cult of personality · personality cult · ideology · indoctrination · reeducation · thought control
tyranny
Oppressive, absolute governance
- subjugationForcing into submission
- persecutionSystematic mistreatment of groups
- human rights violationsBreaches of basic dignities
political prisoners · torture · disappearances · atrocities · genocide · ethnic cleansing · forced labor · gulag · concentration camp · exile
kleptocracy
State-sponsored looting system
- nepotismPreferring kin in hiring
- cronyismFavoring friends in appointments
- embezzlementFraudulent taking of entrusted assets
plunder · looting · exploitation · patronage · bribery · offshore accounts · luxury · excess · inequality · impunity
pharaoh
Ancient Egyptian ruler
caliph · warlord · generalissimo · caudillo · duce · Assad · Pinochet · Franco · Mussolini · Stalin
- Latin AmericaArgentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Cuba
- territoriesprovince, state, region, country, colony
- Latin American historycolonial history, independence movements, political history, indigenous history, encomienda
- 1930sNew Deal, Hitler, Nazi Germany, Great Depression, appeasement
- oppressionoppression, tyranny, racism, repression, secret police
- political oppressionvoter suppression, election fraud, rigged elections, ballot stuffing, vote rigging
dictatorshipsdemocracies
Governments elected by people
democracy · liberal democracies · representative governments · republics · self-governance
dictatorshipsfree states
Territories prohibiting human bondage
liberty · freedom · self-determination · emancipation · autonomy
- military dictatorshipRegime ruled by armed forces
- tin-pot dictatorshipWeak authoritarian state
- dictatorship of the proletariatLaboring class governing authority