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{{Short description|Form of government}}
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{{Basic forms of government}}

A '''dictatorship''' is an [[autocratic]] form of government which is characterized by a leader, or a group of leaders, who hold governmental powers with few to no [[Limited government|limitations]]. Politics in a dictatorship are controlled by a [[dictator]], and they are facilitated through an inner circle of elites that includes advisers, generals, and other high-ranking officials. The dictator maintains control by influencing and appeasing the inner circle and repressing any opposition, which may include rival political parties, armed resistance, or disloyal members of the dictator's inner circle. Dictatorships can be formed by a [[Coup d'état|military coup]] that overthrows the previous government through force or they can be formed by a [[self-coup]] in which elected leaders make their rule permanent. Dictatorships are [[Authoritarianism|authoritarian]] or [[Totalitarianism|totalitarian]],<ref name="Encyclopedia Britannica 1965 r189">{{cite web | title=What is the difference between totalitarianism and authoritarianism? | website=Encyclopedia Britannica | date=1965-03-12 | url=https://www.britannica.com/question/What-is-the-difference-between-totalitarianism-and-authoritarianism | access-date=2024-01-13}}</ref> and they can be classified as [[military dictatorship]]s, [[One-party state|one-party dictatorships]], [[personalist dictatorship]]s, or [[Absolute monarchy|absolute monarchies]].<ref name="Wintrobe 2019 pp. 285–310">{{cite book | last=Wintrobe | first=Ronald | editor-first1=Roger D. | editor-first2=Bernard | editor-first3=Stefan | editor-last1=Congleton | editor-last2=Grofman | editor-last3=Voigt | title=The Oxford Handbook of Public Choice, Volume 2 | chapter=Are There Types of Dictatorship? | publisher=Oxford University Press | date=2019-02-28 | isbn=978-0-19-046977-1 | doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190469771.013.13 | pages=285–310}}</ref>

The Latin word ''[[Roman dictator|dictator]]'' originated in the early [[Roman Republic]] to refer to a constitutional office with "a temporary grant of absolute power to a leader to handle some [[State of emergency|emergency]]."<ref name="Guriev, Treisman 2022">{{Cite web |last1=Guriev |first1=Sergei |last2=Treisman |first2=Daniel |date=6 December 2022 |title=How Do Dictatorships Survive in the 21st Century? |url=https://www.carnegie.org/our-work/article/how-do-dictatorships-survive-21st-century/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230416235952/https://www.carnegie.org/our-work/article/how-do-dictatorships-survive-21st-century/ |archive-date=16 April 2023}}</ref> The earliest military dictatorships developed in the post-classical era, particularly in [[Shogun]]-era Japan and in England under [[Oliver Cromwell]]. Modern dictatorships first developed in the 19th century, which included [[Bonapartism]] in Europe and ''[[caudillo]]s'' in Latin America. The 20th century saw the rise of [[fascist]] and [[Communist state|communist]] dictatorships in Europe; fascism was largely eradicated in the [[aftermath of World War II]] in 1945, while communism spread to other continents, maintaining prominence until the end of the [[Cold War]] in 1991. The 20th century also saw the rise of personalist dictatorships in Africa and military dictatorships in Latin America, both of which became prominent in the 1960s and 1970s.

The period following the [[Dissolution of the Soviet Union|collapse of the Soviet Union]] witnessed a sporadic rise in [[Democracy|democracies]] around the world, despite several dictatorships persisting into the 21st century, particularly in Africa and Asia. During the early 21st century, democratic governments outnumbered authoritarian states by 98 to 80. The second decade was marked by a [[democratic recession]], following the [[2008 financial crisis]] which drastically reduced the appeal of the Western model around the world. By 2019, the number of authoritarian governments had again surmounted that of democracies by 92 to 87.<ref name="Guriev, Treisman 2022"/>

Dictatorships often attempt to portray a [[democracy|democratic]] facade, frequently holding elections to establish their [[political legitimacy|legitimacy]] or provide incentives to members of the ruling party, but these elections are not competitive for the [[Opposition (politics)|opposition]]. Stability in a dictatorship is maintained through [[coercion]] and [[political repression]], which involves the restriction of access to information, the tracking of the political opposition, and acts of [[violence]]. Dictatorships that fail to repress the opposition are susceptible to collapse through a coup or a [[revolution]].

== Structure ==
The power structures of dictatorships vary, and different definitions of dictatorship consider different elements of this structure. Political scientists such as [[Juan José Linz]] and [[Samuel P. Huntington]] identify key attributes that define the power structure of a dictatorship, including a single leader or a small group of leaders, the exercise of power with few limitations, limited [[Pluralism (political theory)|political pluralism]], and limited [[mass mobilization]].{{sfn|Ezrow|Frantz|2011|p=2}}

The dictator exercises most or total power over the government and society, but sometimes elites are necessary to carry out the dictator's rule. They form an inner circle, making up a class of [[elites]]s that hold a degree of power within the dictatorship and receive benefits in exchange for their support. They may be military officers, party members, friends, or family of the dictator. Elites are also the primary political threats to a dictator, as they can leverage their power to influence or overthrow the dictatorship.{{sfn|Ezrow|Frantz|2011|pp=82–83}} The inner circle's support is necessary for a dictator's orders to be carried out, causing elites to serve as a check on the dictator's power. To enact policy, a dictator must either appease the regime's elites or attempt to replace them.{{sfn|Ezrow|Frantz|2011|pp=113–117}} Elites must also compete to wield more power than one another, but the amount of power held by elites also depends on their unity. Factions or divisions among the elites will mitigate their ability to bargain with the dictator, resulting in the dictator having more unrestrained power.{{Sfn|Geddes|Wright|Frantz|2018|pp=65–66}} A unified inner circle can overthrow a dictator, and the dictator must make greater concessions to the inner circle to stay in power.{{Sfn|Geddes|Wright|Frantz|2018|pp=76–79}} This is particularly true when the inner circle is made up of military officers who have the resources to carry out a military coup. {{Sfn|Geddes|Wright|Frantz|2018|pp=97–99}}

The opposition to a dictatorship represents all of the factions that are not part of the dictatorship and anyone who does not support the regime. Organized opposition is a threat to the stability of a dictatorship, as it seeks to undermine public support for the dictator and calls for regime change. A dictator may address the opposition by repressing it through force, modifying laws to restrict its power, or appeasing it with limited benefits.{{sfn|Ezrow|Frantz|2011|pp=56–57}} The opposition can be an external group, or it can also include current and former members of the dictator's inner circle. {{Sfn|Geddes|Wright|Frantz|2018|p=178}}

Totalitarianism is a variation of dictatorship characterized by the presence of a single political party and, more specifically, by a powerful leader who imposes personal and political prominence. Power is enforced through a steadfast collaboration between the government and a highly developed ideology. A totalitarian government has "total control of mass communications and social and economic organizations".<ref>{{Cite journal |last=McLaughlin |first=Neil |date=2010 |title=Review: Totalitarianism, Social Science, and the Margins. |journal=The Canadian Journal of Sociology |volume=35 |issue=3 |pages=463–69 |doi=10.29173/cjs8876 |jstor=canajsocicahican.35.3.463 |doi-access=free}}</ref> Political philosopher [[Hannah Arendt]] describes totalitarianism as a new and extreme form of dictatorship composed of "atomized, isolated individuals" in which ideology plays a leading role in defining how the entire society should be organized.{{sfn|Ezrow|Frantz|2011|p=3}} Political scientist Juan José Linz identifies a spectrum of [[political systems]] with [[democracies]] and [[totalitarian regimes]] separated by [[authoritarian regimes]] with varied classifications of [[Hybrid regime|hybrid systems]].<ref name="LinzLinz2000">{{cite book |author1=[[Juan José Linz]] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8cYk_ABfMJIC&pg=PA143 |title=Totalitarian and Authoritarian Regimes |date=2000 |publisher=Lynne Rienner Publisher |isbn=978-1-55587-890-0 |pages=143 |oclc=1172052725}}</ref><ref name="Michie2014">{{cite book | editor-first = Jonathan | editor-last = Michie | date = 3 February 2014 | title = Reader's Guide to the Social Sciences | publisher = Routledge | page = 95 | isbn = 978-1-135-93226-8 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=ip_IAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA95}}</ref> He describes totalitarian regimes as exercising control over politics and political mobilization rather than merely suppressing it.<ref name="LinzLinz2000"/>

== Formation ==
[[File:Naples Fascist rally on 24 October 1922 (2).jpg|thumb|Benito Mussolini in the [[March on Rome]] that installed him as dictator in Italy]]
A dictatorship is formed when a specific group seizes power, with the composition of this group affecting how power is seized and how the eventual dictatorship will rule. The group may be military or political, it may be organized or disorganized, and it may disproportionately represent a certain demographic.{{Sfn|Geddes|Wright|Frantz|2018|pp=3–5}} After power is seized, the group must determine what positions its members will hold in the new government and how this government will operate, sometimes resulting in disagreements that split the group. Members of the group will typically make up the elites in a dictator's inner circle at the beginning of a new dictatorship, though the dictator may remove them as a means to gain additional power.{{Sfn|Geddes|Wright|Frantz|2018|pp=11–12}}

Unless they have undertaken a self-coup, those seizing power typically have little governmental experience and do not have a detailed policy plan in advance.{{Sfn|Geddes|Wright|Frantz|2018|p=37}} If the dictator has not seized power through a political party, then a party may be formed as a mechanism to reward supporters and to concentrate power in the hands of political allies instead of militant allies. Parties formed after the seizure of power often have little influence and only exist to serve the dictator.{{Sfn|Geddes|Wright|Frantz|2018|pp=115–116}}

Most dictatorships are formed through military means or a political party. Nearly half of dictatorships start as a military coup, though others have been started by foreign intervention, elected officials ending competitive elections, insurgent takeovers, popular uprisings by citizens, or legal maneuvering by autocratic elites to take power within their government.{{Sfn|Geddes|Wright|Frantz|2018|p=27}} Between 1946 and 2010, 42% of dictatorships began by overthrowing different types of dictatorship, and 26% began after achieving independence from a foreign government. Many others developed following a period of [[warlordism]].{{Sfn|Geddes|Wright|Frantz|2018|p=26}}

==Types of dictatorships==
A classification of dictatorships, which began with political scientist [[Barbara Geddes]] in 1999, focuses on where power lies. Under this system, there are three types of dictatorships. [[Military dictatorship]]s are controlled by military officers, [[One-party state|one-party dictatorships]] are controlled by the leadership of a political party, and [[personalist dictatorship]]s are controlled by a single individual. In some circumstances, [[Monarchy|monarchies]] are also considered dictatorships if the monarchs hold a significant amount of political power. Hybrid dictatorships are regimes that have a combination of these classifications.{{sfn|Ezrow|Frantz|2011|pp=20–22}}

=== Military<span class="anchor" id="Military dictatorship"></span> ===
{{main|Military dictatorship}}
[[File:Marines-march-on-Government-Building-Seoul 1962-05-17.jpg|thumb|Soldiers occupy [[Seoul]], South Korea as part of the [[May 16 coup]] that placed General [[Park Chung Hee]] in power.]]
[[File:President Suharto, 1993.jpg|180px|thumb|[[Suharto]], President of Indonesia from 1967 to 1998, ruled through a military-backed dictatorship marked by widespread human rights abuses and corruption.]]
Military dictatorships are regimes in which military officers hold power, determine who will lead the country, and exercise influence over policy.{{sfn|Ezrow|Frantz|2011|p=20}}<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Friedrich|first=Carl|date=1950|title=Military Government and Dictatorship.|journal=The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science|volume= 267|pages= 1–7|oclc=5723774494|doi=10.1177/000271625026700102|s2cid=146698274}}</ref> They are most common in developing nations in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. They are often unstable, and the average duration of a military dictatorship is only five years, but they are often followed by additional military coups and military dictatorships. While common in the 20th century, the prominence of military dictatorships declined in the 1970s and 1980s.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Danopoulos |first=Constantine P. |title=The Decline of Military Regimes: The Civilian Influence |publisher=Routledge |year=2019 |isbn=9780367291174 |editor-last=Danopoulos |editor-first=Constantine P. |pages=1–24 |chapter=Military Dictatorships in Retreat: Problems and Perspectives}}</ref>

Military dictatorships are typically formed by a military coup in which senior officers use the military to overthrow the government. In democracies, the threat of a military coup is associated with the period immediately after a democracy's creation but before large-scale military reforms. In [[Oligarchy|oligarchies]], the threat of a military coup comes from the strength of the military weighed against the concessions made to the military. Other factors associated with military coups include extensive natural resources, limited use of the military internationally, and use of the military as an [[Oppression|oppressive]] force domestically.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Acemoglu |first1=Daron |last2=Ticchi |first2=Davide |last3=Vindigni |first3=Andrea |date=2010 |title=A Theory of Military Dictatorships |url=https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/mac.2.1.1 |journal=American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics |language=en |volume=2 |issue=1 |pages=1–42 |doi=10.1257/mac.2.1.1 |hdl=1721.1/61747 |issn=1945-7707|hdl-access=free }}</ref> Military coups do not necessarily result in military dictatorships, as power may then be passed to an individual or the military may allow democratic elections to take place.{{sfn|Ezrow|Frantz|2011|pp=34–38}}

Military dictatorships often have traits in common due to the shared background of military dictators. These dictators may view themselves as impartial in their oversight of a country due to their nonpartisan status, and they may view themselves as "guardians of the state". The predominance of violent force in military training manifests in an acceptance of violence as a political tool and the ability to organize violence on a large scale. Military dictators may also be less trusting or diplomatic and underestimate the use of bargaining and compromise in politics.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kim |first=Nam Kyu |title=Routledge Handbook of Illiberalism |publisher=Routledge |year=2021 |isbn=9780367260569 |editor-last=Sajó |editor-first=András |pages=571–581 |chapter=Illiberalism of Military Regimes |editor-last2=Uitz |editor-first2=Renáta |editor-last3=Holmes |editor-first3=Stephen}}</ref>

=== One-party<span class="anchor" id="One-party dictatorship"></span> ===
{{Main|One-party state}}
[[File:RIAN archive 851899 Pioneers and schoolchildren greet delegates and guests of XVII convention of trade unions of the USSR.jpg|thumb|An assembly at the [[Kremlin Palace of Congresses]] in Moscow, Soviet Union]]
One-party dictatorships are governments in which a single political party dominates politics. Single-party dictatorships are one-party states in which only the party in power is legalized, sometimes along with minor allied parties, and all opposition parties are banned. [[Dominant-party system|Dominant-party dictatorships]] or electoral authoritarian dictatorships are one-party dictatorships in which opposition parties are nominally legal but cannot meaningfully influence government. Single-party dictatorships were most common during the Cold War, with dominant-party dictatorships becoming more common after the fall of the Soviet Union.<ref name=":4">{{Cite journal |last1=Magaloni |first1=Beatriz |last2=Kricheli |first2=Ruth |date=2010 |title=Political Order and One-Party Rule |journal=Annual Review of Political Science |volume=13 |pages=123–143 |doi=10.1146/annurev.polisci.031908.220529|doi-access=free }}</ref> Ruling parties in one-party dictatorships are distinct from political parties that were created to serve a dictator in that the ruling party in a one-party dictatorship permeates every level of society.{{sfn|Ezrow|Frantz|2011|pp=39–42}}

One-party dictatorships are more stable than other forms of authoritarian rule, as they are less susceptible to insurgency and see higher economic growth. Ruling parties allow a dictatorship to more broadly influence the populace and facilitate political agreement between party elites. Between 1950 and 2016, one-party dictatorships made up 57% of authoritarian regimes in the world,<ref name=":4" /> and one-party dictatorships have continued to expand more quickly than other forms of dictatorship in the latter half of the 20th century.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Magaloni |first1=Beatriz |last2=Kricheli |first2=Ruth |date=2010-05-01 |title=Political Order and One-Party Rule |journal=Annual Review of Political Science |language=en |volume=13 |issue=1 |pages=123–143 |doi=10.1146/annurev.polisci.031908.220529 |issn=1094-2939|doi-access=free }}</ref> Due to the structure of their leadership, one-party dictatorships are significantly less likely to face civil conflict, insurgency, or terrorism than other forms of dictatorship.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Fjelde |first=Hanne |date=2010 |title=Generals, Dictators, and Kings: Authoritarian Regimes and Civil Conflict, 1973—2004 |url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0738894210366507 |journal=Conflict Management and Peace Science |language=en |volume=27 |issue=3 |pages=195–218 |doi=10.1177/0738894210366507 |s2cid=154367047 |issn=0738-8942|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref name="Terrorism In Dictatorships">{{Cite journal |last1=Aksoy |first1=Deniz |last2=Carter |first2=David B. |last3=Wright |first3=Joseph |date=2012-07-01 |title=Terrorism In Dictatorships |url=https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1017/S0022381612000400 |journal=The Journal of Politics |volume=74 |issue=3 |pages=810–826 |doi=10.1017/S0022381612000400 |s2cid=153412217 |issn=0022-3816|url-access=subscription }}</ref> The use of ruling parties also provides more legitimacy to its leadership and elites than other forms of dictatorship<ref name=":5">{{Cite journal |last=Pinto |first=António Costa |date=2002 |title=Elites, Single Parties and Political Decision-making in Fascist-era Dictatorships |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/contemporary-european-history/article/abs/elites-single-parties-and-political-decisionmaking-in-fascistera-dictatorships/B0B01AD1C565221CC855FA1B2B2FDE6B |journal=Contemporary European History |language=en |volume=11 |issue=3 |pages=429–454 |doi=10.1017/S0960777302003053 |s2cid=154994824 |issn=1469-2171|url-access=subscription }}</ref> and facilitates a peaceful transfer of power at the end of a dictator's rule.{{sfn|Ezrow|Frantz|2011|p=200}}

One-party dictatorships became prominent in Asia and Eastern Europe during the Cold War as communist governments were installed in several countries.{{sfn|Ezrow|Frantz|2011|pp=39–42}} One-party rule also developed in several countries in Africa during decolonization in the 1960s and 1970s, some of which produced authoritarian regimes.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Darkwa |first=Samuel Kofi |url=https://link.springer.com/10.1007/978-3-031-14667-1 |title=Jerry John Rawlings: Leadership and Legacy: A Pan-African Perspective |date=2022 |publisher=Springer International Publishing |isbn=978-3-031-14666-4 |editor-last=Kumah-Abiwu |editor-first=Felix |location=Cham |pages=37–38 |language=en |chapter=One-Party Rule and Military Dictatorship in Africa |doi=10.1007/978-3-031-14667-1 |s2cid=253840274 |editor-last2=Abidde |editor-first2=Sabella Ogbobode}}</ref> A ruling party in a one-party dictatorship may rule under any ideology or it may have no guiding ideology. Marxist one-party states are sometimes distinguished from other one-party states, but they function similarly.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Lidén |first=Gustav |date=2014 |title=Theories of dictatorships: sub-types and explanations |url=https://www.ssoar.info/ssoar/handle/document/39064 |journal=Studies of the Transition States and Societies |language=en |volume=6 |issue=1 |pages=50–67 |issn=1736-8758}}</ref> When a one-party dictatorship develops gradually through legal means, it can result in conflict between the party organization and the state apparatus and [[civil service]], as the party rules in parallel and increasingly appoints its members to positions of power. Parties that take power through violence are often able to implement larger changes in a shorter period.<ref name=":5" />

=== Personalist <!--'Personalist dictatorship' and 'Personalist dictator' redirect here-->===
{{Further|Autocracy|Cult of personality}}{{See also|Personalismo|Dynasty#Hereditary dictatorship}}
[[File:The statues of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il on Mansu Hill in Pyongyang (april 2012).jpg|thumb|left|Citizens of North Korea bow to statues of former dictators [[Kim Il Sung]] and [[Kim Jong Il]] in 2012.]]

'''Personalist dictatorships'''<!--boldface per WP:R#PLA--> are regimes in which all of the power lies in the hands of a single individual.<ref name=":12" /> They differ from other forms of dictatorships in that the dictator has greater access to key political positions and the government's [[treasury]], and they are more commonly subject to the discretion of the dictator. Personalist dictators may be members of the military or leaders of a political party, but neither the military nor the party exercises power independently from the dictator. In personalist dictatorships, the elite corps are usually made up of close friends or family members of the dictator, who typically handpicks these individuals to serve their posts.{{sfn|Ezrow|Frantz|2011|pp=215–216}}<ref>{{cite journal|last=Peceny|first=Mark|date=2003|title=Peaceful Parties and Puzzling Personalists.|journal=The American Political Science Review|volume= 97| issue =  2|pages= 339–42|oclc=208155326|doi=10.1017/s0003055403000716|doi-broken-date=1 January 2025 |s2cid=145169371}}</ref> These dictatorships often emerge either from loosely organized seizures of power, giving the leader opportunity to consolidate power, or from democratically elected leaders in countries with weak institutions, giving the leader opportunity to change the constitution. Personalist dictatorships are more common in Sub-Saharan Africa due to less established institutions in the region.{{sfn|Ezrow|Frantz|2011|pp=42–45}} There has been an increase in personalist dictatorships since the end of the Cold War.<ref name=":12">{{Citation |last=Frantz |first=Erica |title=Personalist Dictatorship |date=2024 |work=The Oxford Handbook of Authoritarian Politics |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198871996.013.8 |publisher=Oxford University Press |doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198871996.013.8 |isbn=978-0-19-887199-6 |quote=Personalist dictatorships are regimes in which a single individual controls access to political office and influence over policy, and no institutions exist that are autonomous of this individual (Geddes 2003). This contrasts with other more institutionalized forms of authoritarianism, where politics may be dictated by a single political party (as in dominant-party dictatorships) or a military junta (as in military dictatorships). Political parties may exist in personalist dictatorships, but they largely lack political autonomy.|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

Personalist dictators typically favor loyalty over competence in their governments and have a general distrust of [[intelligentsia]]. Elites in personalist dictatorships often do not have a professional political career and are unqualified for the positions they are given. A personalist dictator will manage these appointees by segmenting the government so that they cannot collaborate. The result is that such regimes have no internal [[checks and balances]], and are thus unrestrained when exerting repression on their people, making radical shifts in foreign policy, or starting wars with other countries.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Van den Bosch |first=Jeroen J. J. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cxYeEAAAQBAJ |title=Personalist Rule in Africa and Other World Regions |date=2021-04-19 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-000-37707-1 |pages=10–11 |language=en}}</ref> Due to the lack of accountability and the smaller group of elites, personalist dictatorships are more prone to [[corruption]] than other forms of dictatorship,{{sfn|Ezrow|Frantz|2011|pp=134–135}} and they are more repressive than other forms of dictatorship.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Frantz|first1=Erica|last2=Kendall-Taylor|first2=Andrea|last3=Wright|first3=Joseph|last4=Xu|first4=Xu|date=2019-08-27|title=Personalization of Power and Repression in Dictatorships|url=https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/706049|journal=The Journal of Politics|volume=82|pages=372–377|doi=10.1086/706049|s2cid=203199813|issn=0022-3816|url-access=subscription}}</ref> Personalist dictatorships often collapse with the death of the dictator. They are more likely to end in violence and less likely to democratize than other forms of dictatorship.{{sfn|Ezrow|Frantz|2011|pp=61–67}}
[[File:Stans08-036 (3134870208).jpg|thumb|The rotating statue of [[Saparmurat Niyazov]] in [[Turkmenistan]]]]
Personalist dictatorships fit the exact classic stereotype of authoritarian rule.<ref>Frantz 2018</ref> Within a personalist regime, an issue called "the dictator's dilemma" arises.<ref>Wintrobe 2012{{Full citation needed|date=December 2024}}</ref> This idea references the heavy reliance on repression of the public to stay in power, which creates incentives for all constituents to falsify their preferences, which does not allow for dictators to know the genuine popular beliefs or their realistic measure of societal support.<ref>Kuran 2011</ref> As a result of authoritarian politics, a series of major issues may ensue. [[Preference falsification]], internal politics, data scarcity, and restriction on the [[freedom of the press]] are just a few examples of the dangers of a personalistic authoritarian regime.<ref>Robinson Tanneberg 2018</ref> Although, when it comes to polling and elections a dictator could use their power to override private preferences. Many personalist regimes will install open ballots to protect their regimes and implement heavy security measures and [[censorship]] for those whose personal preferences do not align with the values of the leader.<ref>Donno 2013</ref>

The shift in the power relation between the dictator and their inner circle has severe consequences for the behavior of such regimes as a whole. Personalist regimes diverge from other regimes when it comes to their longevity, methods of breakdown, levels of corruption, and proneness to conflicts. On average, they last twice as long as military dictatorships, but not as long as one-party dictatorships.<ref>{{Cite report |title=Authoritarian Breakdown: Empirical Test of a Game Theoretic Argument |last=Geddes |first=Barbara |date=2004 |pages=18–19}}</ref> Personalist dictatorships also experience growth differently, as they often lack the institutions or qualified leadership to sustain an economy.<ref>Van den Bosch, Jeroen J. J., Personalist Rule in Africa and Other World Regions, (London-New York: Routledge, 2021): 13-16</ref>

=== Absolute monarchy ===
{{Main|Absolute monarchy}}
[[File:Salman of Saudi Arabia (2017-10-05) 2.jpg|thumb|King [[Salman of Saudi Arabia]]]]
An absolute monarchy is a [[monarchy]] in which the [[monarch]] rules without legal limitations. This makes it distinct from [[constitutional monarchy]] and [[Crowned republic|ceremonial monarchy]].{{sfn|Ezrow|Frantz|2011|pp=240–241}} In an absolute monarchy, power is limited to the royal family, and historical factors establish legitimacy. Monarchies may be dynastic, in which the royal family serves as a ruling institution similar to a political party in a one-party state, or non-dynastic, in which the monarch rules independently of the royal family as a personalist dictator.{{sfn|Ezrow|Frantz|2011|p=259}} Monarchies allow for strict rules of succession that produce a peaceful transfer of power on the monarch's death, but this can also result in succession disputes if multiple members of the royal family claim a right to succeed.{{sfn|Ezrow|Frantz|2011|p=254}} In the modern era, absolute monarchies are most common in the [[Middle East]].{{sfn|Ezrow|Frantz|2011|pp=46–48}}

== History ==
=== Early dictatorships ===
[[File:Santaanna1.JPG|thumb|upright|left|Military dictator [[Antonio López de Santa Anna]] wearing a Mexican military uniform<ref name=":7">{{Cite web |last=Fowler |first=Will |date=2015-04-02 |title=Santa Anna and His Legacy |url=https://oxfordre.com/latinamericanhistory/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199366439.001.0001/acrefore-9780199366439-e-18 |access-date=2022-07-26 |website=Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Latin American History |language=en |doi=10.1093/acrefore/9780199366439.013.18 |isbn=978-0-19-936643-9}}</ref>]]
Dictatorship is historically associated with the Ancient Greek concept of [[tyranny]], and several ancient Greek rulers have been described as "tyrants" who are comparable to modern dictators.<ref name=":9" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Papanikos |first=Gregory Τ. |date=2022 |title=The Five Ancient Criteria of Democracy: The Apotheosis of Equality |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/357821988 |journal=Athens Journal of Humanities & Arts |volume=9 |issue=2 |pages=105–120 |doi=10.30958/ajha.9-2-1|s2cid=245951706 |doi-access=free }}</ref> The concept of "dictator" was first developed during the [[Roman Republic]]. A [[Roman dictator]] was a special [[Roman magistrate|magistrate]] that was temporarily appointed by the [[Roman consul|consul]] during times of crisis and granted total executive authority. The role of the dictator was created for instances when a single leader was needed to command and restore stability.<ref name=":8" /> At least 85 such dictators were chosen for the Roman Republic, the last of which was chosen to wage the [[Second Punic War]]. The dictatorship was revived 120 years later by [[Sulla]] after his [[Sulla's civil war|crushing]] of a populist movement, and 33 years after that by [[Julius Caesar]].<ref name=":8">{{Cite book |last=Wilson |first=Mark |title=Dictator: The Evolution of the Roman Dictatorship |publisher=University of Michigan Press |year=2021 |isbn=9780472129201 |pages=3–4}}</ref> Caesar subverted the tradition of temporary dictatorships when he was made {{lang|la|[[dictator perpetuo]]}}, or a dictator for life, which led to the creation of the [[Roman Empire]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Zeev |first=Miriam Pucci Ben |date=1996 |title=When was the title "Dictator perpetuus" given to Caesar ? |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41658953 |journal=L'Antiquité Classique |volume=65 |pages=251–253 |doi=10.3406/antiq.1996.1259 |jstor=41658953 |issn=0770-2817|url-access=subscription }}</ref> The rule of a dictator was not necessarily considered tyrannical in Ancient Rome, though it has been described in some accounts as a "temporary tyranny" or an "elective tyranny".<ref name=":9">{{Cite journal |last=Kalyvas |first=Andreas |date=2007 |title=The Tyranny of Dictatorship: When the Greek Tyrant Met the Roman Dictator |url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0090591707302208 |journal=Political Theory |language=en |volume=35 |issue=4 |pages=412–442 |doi=10.1177/0090591707302208 |s2cid=144115904 |issn=0090-5917|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

Asia saw several military dictatorships during the [[Post-classical history|post-classical era]]. Korea experienced military dictatorships under the rule of [[Yŏn Kaesomun]] in the 7th century<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lee |first1=Ki-Baik |title=A New History of Korea |date=1984 |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=9780674615762 |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |page=48 |language=en |translator-last=Wagner |translator-first=Edward W. |translator-last2=Shultz |translator-first2=Edward J.}}</ref> and under the rule of the [[Goryeo military regime]] in the 12th and 13th centuries.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lee |first1=Ki-Baik |title=A New History of Korea |date=1984 |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=9780674615762 |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |pages=139–154 |language=en |translator-last=Wagner |translator-first=Edward W. |chapter=Rule by the Military |translator-last2=Shultz |translator-first2=Edward J.}}</ref> [[Shogun]]s were ''de facto'' military dictators in Japan beginning in 1185 and continuing for over six hundred years.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Shinoda |first=Minoru |url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.7312/shin93498/html |title=The Founding of the Kamakura Shogunate 1180–1185. With Selected Translations from the Azuma Kagami |date=1960-03-02 |publisher=Columbia University Press |isbn=978-0-231-89400-5 |pages=3–4 |language=en |doi=10.7312/shin93498}}</ref> During the [[Lê dynasty]] of Vietnam between the 16th and 18th centuries, the country was under ''de facto'' military rule by two rival military families: the [[Trịnh lords]] in the north and the [[Nguyễn lords]] in the south.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=McLeod |first1=Mark W. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a2TerRF1j74C |title=Culture and Customs of Vietnam |last2=Nguyen |first2=Thi Dieu |date=2001 |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |isbn=978-0-313-30485-9 |pages=18 |language=en}}</ref> In Europe, the [[Commonwealth of England]] under [[Oliver Cromwell]], formed in 1649 after the [[Second English Civil War]], has been described as a military dictatorship by its contemporary opponents and by some modern academics.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Woolrych |first=Austin |date=1990 |title=The Cromwellian Protectorate: A Military Dictatorship? |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/24420972 |journal=History |volume=75 |issue=244 |pages=207–231 |doi=10.1111/j.1468-229X.1990.tb01515.x |jstor=24420972 |issn=0018-2648|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Goodlad |first=Graham |title=Oliver Cromwell |year=2007 |isbn=9786612040436 |pages=22 |quote=It would forever attach the label–however unjustified–of 'military dictator' to Cromwell's reputation.}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last1=Bychowski |first1=Gustav |last2=Bychowski |first2=Gustaw |date=1943 |title=Dictators and Their Followers: A Theory of Dictatorship |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/24725069 |journal=Bulletin of the Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences in America |volume=1 |issue=3 |pages=455–457 |jstor=24725069 |issn=0376-2327}}</ref> [[Maximilien Robespierre]] has been similarly described as a dictator while he controlled the [[National Convention]] in France and carried out the [[Reign of Terror]] in 1793 and 1794.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Citation |last=Marik |first=Soma |title=Robespierre, Maximilien de (1758-1794) |date=2009-04-20 |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/9781405198073.wbierp1264 |encyclopedia=The International Encyclopedia of Revolution and Protest |pages=1–5 |editor-last=Ness |editor-first=Immanuel |place=Oxford, UK |publisher=John Wiley & Sons, Ltd |language=en |doi=10.1002/9781405198073.wbierp1264 |isbn=978-1-4051-9807-3 |access-date=2022-07-26|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kim |first=Minchul |date=2015-10-03 |title=The many Robespierres from 1794 to the present |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/01916599.2015.1029729 |journal=History of European Ideas |volume=41 |issue=7 |pages=992–996 |doi=10.1080/01916599.2015.1029729 |s2cid=144194413 |issn=0191-6599|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

Dictatorship developed as a major form of government in the 19th century, though the concept was not universally seen pejoratively at the time, with both a tyrannical concept and a quasi-constitutional concept of dictatorship understood to exist.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Prieto |first=Moisés |title=Dictatorship in the Nineteenth Century: Conceptualisations, Experiences, Transfers |publisher=Routledge |year=2021 |isbn=9780367457174 |edition=1st |chapter=Introduction |doi=10.4324/9781003024927 |s2cid=237768077}}</ref> In Europe it was often thought of in terms of [[Bonapartism]] and [[Caesarism]], with the former describing the military rule of [[Napoleon]] and the latter describing the imperial rule of [[Napoleon III]] in the vein of Julius Caesar.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Richter |first=Melvin |date=2005 |title=A Family of Political Concepts: Tyranny, Despotism, Bonapartism, Caesarism, Dictatorship, 1750-1917 |url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1474885105052703 |journal=European Journal of Political Theory |language=en |volume=4 |issue=3 |pages=221–248 |doi=10.1177/1474885105052703 |s2cid=143577539 |issn=1474-8851|url-access=subscription }}</ref> The [[Spanish American wars of independence]] took place in the early-19th century, creating many new [[Latin America]]n governments. Many of these governments fell under the control of ''[[caudillo]]s'', or personalist dictators. Most caudillos came from a military background, and their rule was typically associated with pageantry and glamor. Caudillos were often nominally constrained by a constitution, but the caudillo had the power to draft a new constitution as he wished. Many are noted for their cruelty, while others are honored as national heroes.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Chapman |first=Charles E. |date=1932 |title=The Age of the Caudillos: A Chapter in Hispanic American History |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2506672 |journal=The Hispanic American Historical Review |volume=12 |issue=3 |pages=281–300 |doi=10.2307/2506672 |jstor=2506672 |issn=0018-2168|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

=== Interwar dictatorships and World War II ===

==== Europe ====
{{See also|European interwar dictatorships}}
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 102-16196, Nürnberg, Reichsparteitag, SA- und SS-Appell.jpg|thumb|The [[Nuremberg rallies]] celebrated [[fascism]] and the rule of Adolf Hitler in Nazi Germany.<ref>{{Citation |last=Orlow |first=Dietrich |title=Europe Will be a Fascist Europe: July 1934–May 1936 |date=2009 |url=https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230617926_4 |work=The Lure of Fascism in Western Europe: German Nazis, Dutch and French Fascists, 1933–1939 |page=62 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan US |language=en |doi=10.1057/9780230617926_4 |isbn=978-0-230-61792-6 |access-date=2022-12-19|url-access=subscription }}</ref>]]
In the time between [[World War I]] and [[World War II]], several dictatorships were established in Europe through coups which were carried out by [[Far-left politics|far-left]] and [[Far-right politics|far-right]] movements.{{Sfn|Lee|2016|p=1}} The aftermath of World War I resulted in a major shift in European politics, establishing new governments, facilitating internal change in older governments, and redrawing the boundaries between countries, allowing opportunities for these movements to seize power.{{Sfn|Lee|2016|p=5}} The societal upheaval caused by World War I and the unstable peace it produced further contributed to the instability that benefited extremist movements and rallied support for their causes. Far-left and far-right dictatorships used similar methods to maintain power, including [[cult of personality]], [[concentration camps]], [[forced labour]], [[mass murder]], and [[genocide]].<ref name=":10">{{Cite book |last1=Besier |first1=Gerhard |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wmMxBwAAQBAJ |title=European Dictatorships: A Comparative History of the Twentieth Century |last2=Stokłosa |first2=Katarzyna |date=2014-01-03 |publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing |isbn=978-1-4438-5521-1 |pages=1–4 |language=en}}</ref>

The first [[communist state]] was created by [[Vladimir Lenin]] and the [[Bolsheviks]] with the establishment of [[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic|Soviet Russia]] during the [[Russian Revolution]] in 1917. The government was described as a [[dictatorship of the proletariat]] in which power was exercised by [[Soviet (council)|soviets]].{{Sfn|Lee|2016|pp=34–36}} The Bolsheviks consolidated power by 1922, forming the [[Soviet Union]].{{Sfn|Lee|2016|pp=48–50}} Lenin was followed by [[Joseph Stalin]] in 1924, who consolidated total power and implemented totalitarian rule by 1929.{{Sfn|Lee|2016|p=55}}{{Sfn|Lee|2016|pp=59–60}} The Russian Revolution inspired a [[Revolutions of 1917–1923|wave of left-wing revolutionary movements]] in Europe between 1917 and 1923, but none saw the same level of success.<ref>{{Cite book |last=MacDonald |first=Stephen C. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pnLI8ooHHPgC |title=Neutral Europe Between War and Revolution, 1917-23 |date=1988 |publisher=University of Virginia Press |isbn=978-0-8139-1153-3 |editor-last=Schmitt |editor-first=Hans A. |pages=238 |language=en |chapter=Crisis, War, and Revolution in Europe, 1917–23}}</ref>

[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-11500-0497, Berlin, Karl-Marx-Allee, Denkmal Stalin.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|[[Statue of Joseph Stalin, Berlin|Statue of Stalin]] in [[East Berlin]], 1951. It was removed in 1961 as part of [[de-Stalinization]].]]
At the same time, nationalist movements grew throughout Europe. These movements were a response to what they perceived as [[decadence]] and [[societal decay]] due to the changing social norms and race relations brought about by [[liberalism]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Fuentes Codera |first=Maximiliano |url=https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-22411-0 |title=Reactionary Nationalists, Fascists and Dictatorships in the Twentieth Century |publisher=Springer |year=2019 |isbn=978-3-030-22411-0 |editor-last=Saz |editor-first=Ismael |pages=67–68 |language=en |doi=10.1007/978-3-030-22411-0 |s2cid=214435541 |editor-last2=Box |editor-first2=Zira |editor-last3=Morant |editor-first3=Toni |editor-last4=Sanz |editor-first4=Julián}}</ref> [[Fascism]] developed in Europe as a rejection of liberalism, [[socialism]], and [[modernism]], and the first fascist political parties formed in the 1920s.<ref>{{Cite book |last=De Grand |first=Alexander J. |url=https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/mono/10.4324/9780203320761/fascist-italy-nazi-germany-alexander-de-grand |title=Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany: The 'Fascist' Style of Rule |publisher=Routledge |year=1995 |isbn=9780203320761 |pages=11 |doi=10.4324/9780203320761}}</ref> Italian dictator [[Benito Mussolini]] seized power in 1922, and began implementing reforms in 1925 to create the first fascist dictatorship.{{Sfn|Lee|2016|pp=114–115}} These reforms incorporated totalitarianism, fealty to the state, [[expansionism]], [[corporatism]], and [[anti-communism]].{{Sfn|Lee|2016|pp=122–124}} Several right-wing dictatorships also emerged in the [[Balkans]] and the [[Baltic states]] during the interwar period.{{Sfn|Lee|2016|pp=333–342}}

[[Adolf Hitler]] and the [[Nazi Party]] created a second fascist dictatorship in Germany in 1933,{{Sfn|Lee|2016|pp=178–179}} obtaining absolute power through a combination of electoral victory, violence, and emergency powers.{{Sfn|Lee|2016|pp=186–188}} Other nationalist movements in Europe established dictatorships based on the fascist model.<ref name=":10" /> During World War II, Italy and Germany [[German-occupied Europe|occupied]] several countries in Europe, imposing fascist [[puppet state]]s upon many of the countries that they invaded.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Gildea |first1=Robert |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zcSvAwAAQBAJ |title=Surviving Hitler and Mussolini: Daily Life in Occupied Europe |last2=Wieviorka |first2=Olivier |last3=Warring |first3=Anette |date=2006-06-01 |publisher=Berg |isbn=978-1-84788-224-0 |pages=1 |language=en}}</ref> After being defeated in World War II, the far-right dictatorships of Europe collapsed, with the exceptions of [[Francoist Spain|Spain]] and [[Estado Novo (Portugal)|Portugal]]. The Soviet Union occupied nationalist dictatorships in the east and replaced them with communist dictatorships, while others established liberal democratic governments in the [[Western Bloc]].<ref name=":10" />

==== Latin America ====
Dictatorships in Latin America were developed late into the 19th century and persisted into the 20th century like the [[Porfiriato]] of Mexico,<ref>{{Cite web |last1=de Planque |first1=Louis |last2=Jackson |first2=William Henry |last3=Underwood |first3=Underwood & |last4=Gómez |first4=Emilio Vázquez |last5=Service |first5=Bain News |last6=Magazine |first6=Pearson's |last7=American Press Association |first7=New York |last8=Bain |first8=George Grantham |last9=Casasola |first9=Agustín V. |title=Mexico During the Porfiriato - The Mexican Revolution and the United States {{!}} Exhibitions  |url=https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/mexican-revolution-and-the-united-states/mexico-during-the-porfiriato.html |access-date=2024-01-11 |website=Library of Congress |language=en}}</ref> and further military coups established new regimes, often in the name of [[nationalism]].{{Sfn|Galván|2012|p=7}} After a brief period of democratization, Latin America underwent a rapid transition toward dictatorship in the 1930s.<ref name=":11">{{Cite book |last=Costa Pinto |first=António |url=https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-46831-6 |title=Beyond the Fascist Century |publisher=Springer |year=2020 |isbn=978-3-030-46831-6 |editor-last=Iordachi |editor-first=Constantin |pages=235–240 |language=en |doi=10.1007/978-3-030-46831-6 |s2cid=242646807 |editor-last2=Kallis |editor-first2=Aristotle}}</ref> [[Populism|Populist]] movements were strengthened following the economic turmoil of the [[Great Depression]], producing populist dictatorships in several Latin American countries.{{Sfn|Galván|2012|p=10}} European fascism was imported to Latin America as well, and the [[Vargas Era]] of Brazil was heavily influenced by the corporatism practiced in fascist Italy.<ref name=":11" />

=== Cold War dictatorships ===
==== Africa ====
[[File:Prins Bernhard in Zaire (voorheen Belgisch Congo), Bernhard en Mobutu, Bestanddeelnr 926-6037.jpg|thumb|[[Mobutu Sese Seko]], Zaire's longtime dictator]]
Many dictatorships formed in Africa, with most forming after countries gained independence during [[Decolonisation of Africa|decolonisation]]. [[Mobutu Sese Seko]] ruled the Democratic Republic of the Congo as a dictator for decades, renaming it [[Zaire]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Schatzberg |first=Michael G |date=1997 |title=Beyond Mobutu: Kabila and the Congo |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/16852 |journal=Journal of Democracy |volume=8 |issue=4 |pages=70–84 |doi=10.1353/jod.1997.0065 |s2cid=154740659 |issn=1086-3214|url-access=subscription }}</ref> [[Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo]] has ruled Equatorial Guinea as a dictator since he led a military coup in 1979.<ref name=":03">{{Cite journal |last1=Sá |first1=Ana Lúcia |last2=Rodrigues Sanches |first2=Edalina |date=2021 |title=The politics of autocratic survival in Equatorial Guinea: Co-optation, restrictive institutional rules, repression, and international projection |url=https://doi.org/10.1093/afraf/adaa030 |journal=African Affairs |volume=120 |issue=478 |pages=78–102 |doi=10.1093/afraf/adaa030 |issn=0001-9909|hdl=10071/22003 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> In 1973, King [[Sobhuza II]] of Swaziland suspended the constitution and ruled as an absolute monarch.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Maroleng |first=Chris |date=2003-01-01 |title=Swaziland |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/10246029.2003.9627233 |journal=African Security Review |volume=12 |issue=3 |pages=45–48 |doi=10.1080/10246029.2003.9627233 |s2cid=218646255 |issn=1024-6029|url-access=subscription }}</ref> [[Samuel Doe]] established a military dictatorship in Liberia in the 1980s.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Gershoni |first=Yekutiel |date=1997 |title=War Without End and An End to A War: The Prolonged Wars in Liberia and Sierra Leone* |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/african-studies-review/article/abs/war-without-end-and-an-end-to-a-war-the-prolonged-wars-in-liberia-and-sierra-leone/81265BA4275163818E309F70A78715E8 |journal=African Studies Review |language=en |volume=40 |issue=3 |pages=55–76 |doi=10.2307/524966 |jstor=524966 |s2cid=144782596 |issn=0002-0206|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Libya was ruled by [[Muammar Gaddafi]] for several decades following [[1969 Libyan coup d'état|a military coup]].<ref>{{Citation |last=Schnelzer |first=Nadine |title=From the Monarchy to the Fall of Gaddafi |date=2016 |url=https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-11382-7_3 |work=Libya in the Arab Spring: The Constitutional Discourse since the Fall of Gaddafi |pages=31–39 |editor-last=Schnelzer |editor-first=Nadine |place=Wiesbaden |publisher=Springer Fachmedien |language=en |doi=10.1007/978-3-658-11382-7_3 |isbn=978-3-658-11382-7 |access-date=2022-07-27|url-access=subscription }}</ref> [[Moussa Traoré]] ruled as a dictator in Mali.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Imperato |first=PJ |date=1991 |title=Mali: Downfall of a Dictator |journal=Africa Report |volume=36 |issue=4}}</ref> [[Habib Bourguiba]] ruled as a dictator in Tunisia until he was deposed by a coup led by [[Zine El Abidine Ben Ali]] in 1987, who in turn ruled as a dictator until the [[Tunisian Revolution]] in 2011.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Cavatorta |first1=Francesco |last2=Haugbølle |first2=Rikke Hostrup |date=2012-07-01 |title=The End of Authoritarian Rule and the Mythology of Tunisia under Ben Ali |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/13629395.2012.694043 |journal=Mediterranean Politics |volume=17 |issue=2 |pages=179–195 |doi=10.1080/13629395.2012.694043 |s2cid=143828270 |issn=1362-9395|url-access=subscription }}</ref> [[Robert Mugabe]] ruled as a dictator in Zimbabwe.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Arnold |first1=James R. |url= |title=Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe |last2=Wiener |first2=Roberta |date=2007-09-01 |publisher=Twenty-First Century Books |isbn=978-0-8225-7283-1 |pages=10 |language=en}}</ref>

Early socialist dictatorships in Africa mainly developed as personalist dictatorships, in which a single socialist would take power instead of a ruling party. Later in the Cold War, the Soviet Union increased its influence in Africa as Marxist-Leninist dictatorships developed in several African countries.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ottaway |first=Marina S. |title=The African State in Transition |year=1987 |isbn=9780333415665 |editor-last=Ergas |editor-first=Zaki |doi=10.1007/978-1-349-18886-4_8}}</ref> One-party Marxist states in Africa included [[People's Republic of Angola|Angola]] under the [[MPLA]], [[People's Republic of Benin|Benin]] under [[Mathieu Kérékou]], Cape Verde under the [[PAICV]], the [[People's Republic of the Congo|Congo]] under the [[Congolese Party of Labour]], [[People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia|Ethiopia]] under the [[Workers' Party of Ethiopia]], [[Democratic Republic of Madagascar|Madagascar]] under [[Malagasy Revolutionary Party|AREMA]], [[People's Republic of Mozambique|Mozambique]] under [[FRELIMO]], and [[Somali Democratic Republic|Somalia]] under [[Siad Barre]].
[[File:Communist rally in Meskel Square.jpg|thumb|A communist rally in [[Addis Ababa]], [[Ethiopia]], during the country's period of Marxist dictatorship, the [[People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia]]]]
Many African countries underwent several military coups that installed a series of military dictatorships throughout the Cold War. These include Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, the Central African Republic, Comoros, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Sudan, and Uganda, each undergoing at least three successful military coups between 1959 and 2001.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=McGowan |first=Patrick J. |date=2003 |title=African military coups d'état, 1956–2001: frequency, trends, and distribution |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-modern-african-studies/article/abs/african-military-coups-detat-19562001-frequency-trends-and-distribution/C7E923CE86B78DD099FDEFAF89F1F88E |journal=The Journal of Modern African Studies |language=en |volume=41 |issue=3 |pages=339–370 |doi=10.1017/S0022278X0300435X |s2cid=59497624 |issn=1469-7777|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

Some leaders of African countries abolished opposition parties, establishing one-party dictatorships. These include the [[National Liberation Front (Algeria)|National Liberation Front]] in Algeria,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Testas |first=A. |date=2002-12-01 |title=Political Repression, Democratization and Civil Conflict in Post-Independence Algeria |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/714000287 |journal=Democratization |volume=9 |issue=4 |pages=106–121 |doi=10.1080/714000287 |s2cid=145094802 |issn=1351-0347|url-access=subscription }}</ref> the [[Chadian Progressive Party]] under [[François Tombalbaye]] in Chad,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Nolutshungu |first=Sam C. |title=Limits of Anarchy: Intervention and State Formation in Chad |year=1996 |isbn=9780813916286 |pages=17|publisher=University of Virginia Press }}</ref> the [[Gabonese Democratic Party]] under [[Omar Bongo]] in Gabon,<ref>{{Citation |last=Mengara |first=Daniel |title=The Making of a Monarchical Republic: The Undoing of Presidential Term Limits in Gabon Under Omar Bongo |date=2020 |url=https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-40810-7_3 |work=The Politics of Challenging Presidential Term Limits in Africa |pages=65–104 |editor-last=Mangala |editor-first=Jack R. |place=Cham |publisher=Springer International Publishing |language=en |doi=10.1007/978-3-030-40810-7_3 |isbn=978-3-030-40810-7 |s2cid=216244948 |access-date=2022-07-27|url-access=subscription }}</ref> the [[Democratic Party of Guinea – African Democratic Rally|Democratic Party]] under [[Ahmed Sékou Touré]] in Guinea, the [[Malawi Congress Party]] under [[Hastings Banda]] in Malawi,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Gabay |first=Clive |date=2017-11-02 |title=The Radical and Reactionary Politics of Malawi's Hastings Banda: Roots, Fruit and Legacy |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/03057070.2017.1365525 |journal=Journal of Southern African Studies |volume=43 |issue=6 |pages=1119–1135 |doi=10.1080/03057070.2017.1365525 |s2cid=149414794 |issn=0305-7070|url-access=subscription }}</ref> the [[National Movement for the Development of Society|MNSD]] under [[Ali Saibou]] in Niger,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Moestrup |first=Sophia |date=1999-06-01 |title=The role of actors and institutions: The difficulties of democratic survival in Mali and Niger |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/13510349908403616 |journal=Democratization |volume=6 |issue=2 |pages=171–186 |doi=10.1080/13510349908403616 |issn=1351-0347|url-access=subscription }}</ref> [[National Revolutionary Movement for Development|MRND]] under [[Juvénal Habyarimana]] in Rwanda, the [[Socialist Party of Senegal|Socialist Party]] under [[Léopold Sédar Senghor]] in Senegal,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hunter |first=Brian |chapter=Senegal |date=1992 |chapter-url=https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1057/9780230271210_151|url=https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1057/9780230271210 |title=The Statesman's Year-Book: Statistical and Historical Annual of the States of the World for the Year 1992–1993 |pages=1153–1156 |editor-last=Hunter |editor-first=Brian |place=London |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan UK |language=en |doi=10.1057/9780230271210 |doi-broken-date=5 February 2025 |isbn=978-0-230-27121-0 |access-date=2022-07-27}}</ref> [[Julius Nyerere]] in Tanzania, the [[Rally of the Togolese People|RPT]] under [[Gnassingbé Eyadéma]] in Togo, and the [[United National Independence Party]] under [[Kenneth Kaunda]] in Zambia. The [[Kenya African National Union|KANU]] in Kenya ruled under a ''de facto'' one-party state.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Gertzel |first=Cherry |date=1966-11-01 |title=The provincial administration in Kenya |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/14662046608447047 |journal=Journal of Commonwealth Political Studies |volume=4 |issue=3 |pages=201–215 |doi=10.1080/14662046608447047 |issn=0021-9908|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

==== Asia ====
[[File:Marcos Clark Air Base cropped.jpg|thumb|left|190px|[[Ferdinand Marcos]] (pictured with his wife [[Imelda Marcos|Imelda]]) was a Philippine dictator and [[Kleptocracy|kleptocrat]]. His regime was infamous for its corruption.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/may/07/10bn-dollar-question-marcos-millions-nick-davies|title=The $10bn question: what happened to the Marcos millions?|author=Nick Davies|date=May 7, 2016|work=The Guardian}}</ref>]]
The [[Chinese Civil War]] ended in 1949, splitting the Republic of China under [[Chiang Kai-shek]] and the People's Republic of China under [[Mao Zedong]]. Mao established the People's Republic of China as a one-party communist state under his governing ideology of [[Maoism]]. While the People's Republic of China was initially aligned with the Soviet Union, relations between the two countries [[Sino-Soviet split|deteriorated]] as the Soviet Union underwent [[de-Stalinization]] in the late-1950s. Mao consolidated his control of the People's Republic of China with the [[Cultural Revolution]] in the 1960s, which involved the destruction of all elements of capitalism and traditionalism in China.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Mitter |first=Rana |title=The Oxford Handbook of the Cold War |editor-first1=Richard H |editor-first2=Petra |editor-last1=Immerman |editor-last2=Goedde |date=2013-01-01 |chapter=China and the Cold War |pages=124–140 |chapter-url=https://academic.oup.com/edited-volume/34525/chapter/292914289 |language=en |doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199236961.013.0008|isbn=978-0199236961 }}</ref> [[Deng Xiaoping]] took power as the ''de facto'' leader of China after Mao's death and implemented [[Chinese economic reform|reforms]] to restore stability following the Cultural Revolution and reestablish [[free market]] economics.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Shirk |first=Susan L. |date=1990-09-01 |title="Playing to the Provinces:" Deng Xiaoping's political strategy of economic reform |url=https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0039-3592%2890%2990010-J |journal=Studies in Comparative Communism |language=en |volume=23 |issue=3 |pages=227–258 |doi=10.1016/0039-3592(90)90010-J |issn=0039-3592|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Chiang Kai-shek continued to rule as dictator of the National government's [[rump state]] in [[Taiwan]] until he died in 1975.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Stevens |first1=Quentin |last2=de Seta |first2=Gabriele |date=2020-07-03 |title=Must Zhongzheng fall? |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/13604813.2020.1784593 |journal=City |volume=24 |issue=3–4 |pages=627–641 |doi=10.1080/13604813.2020.1784593 |bibcode=2020City...24..627S |s2cid=221059194 |issn=1360-4813|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

Marxist and nationalist movements became popular in Southeast Asia as a response to [[European colonisation of Southeast Asia|colonial control]] and the subsequent [[Japanese colonial empire|Japanese occupation]] of Southeast Asia, with both ideologies facilitating the creation of dictatorships after World War II. Communist dictatorships in the region aligned with China following the latter's establishment as a communist state.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lau |first=Albert |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-KiXjPZXc-wC |title=Southeast Asia and the Cold War |date=2012-07-26 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-136-29988-9 |pages=2–3 |language=en}}</ref> Three Communist dictatorships were formed in Southeast Asia: [[North Vietnam]], Laos, and [[Democratic Kampuchea|Kampuchea]]. North Vietnam conquered [[South Vietnam]] at the end of the [[Vietnam War]], and the two merged into a single Communist country. Anti-Communist dictators also ruled in the region. [[Suharto]] became dictator in Indonesia after [[Transition to the New Order|taking power]] in 1967.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Guan |first=Ang Cheng |date=2013-01-01 |chapter=The Cold War in Southeast Asia |url=https://academic.oup.com/edited-volume/34525/chapter/292917918 |editor-first1=Richard H |editor-first2=Petra |editor-last1=Immerman |editor-last2=Goedde |title=The Oxford Handbook of the Cold War |edition=Online |publisher=Oxford Academic |pages=230–245 |doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199236961.013.0014 |isbn=978-0-19-923696-1 |language=en}}</ref> [[Ngo Dinh Diem]] ruled South Vietnam as a dictator until the [[1963 South Vietnamese coup|1963 military coup]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Warner |first=Geoffrey |date=1974-12-01 |title=The united states and the fall of diem. I. The coup that never was |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/10357717408444509 |journal=Australian Outlook |volume=28 |issue=3 |pages=245–258 |doi=10.1080/10357717408444509 |issn=0004-9913|url-access=subscription }}</ref> [[Ferdinand Marcos]] ruled Philippines as a dictator until the [[People Power Revolution]] in 1986.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Benedicto |first=Bobby |date=2021 |title=The place of the dead, the time of dictatorship: Nostalgia, sovereignty, and the corpse of Ferdinand Marcos |journal=Environment and Planning D: Society and Space |language=en |volume=39 |issue=4 |pages=722–739 |doi=10.1177/02637758211013038 |issn=0263-7758 |pmc=8369899 |pmid=34421166|bibcode=2021EnPlD..39..722B }}</ref> A [[Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma|socialist military dictatorship]] was also created separately from the Communist governments in Burma until it was [[8888 Uprising|overthrown]] in 1988 and replaced by a [[State Peace and Development Council|new military dictatorship]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Aung-Thwin |first1=Maureen |last2=Myint-U |first2=Thant |date=1992-01-01 |title=The Burmese ways to socialism |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/01436599208420262 |journal=Third World Quarterly |volume=13 |issue=1 |pages=67–75 |doi=10.1080/01436599208420262 |issn=0143-6597|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

[[File:1974.-Vizita-in-Siria.-Intalnire-protocolara-1024x833.jpg|thumb|[[Nicolae Ceaușescu]] (left) attending a stage event with [[Hafez al-Assad]] (right), during his state visit to [[Ba'athist Syria|Syria]]]]

A similar phenomenon took place in [[Korea]], where [[Kim Il Sung]] created a Soviet-backed communist dictatorship in North Korea<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Wintrobe |first=Ronald |date=2013-12-01 |title=North Korea as a Military Dictatorship |url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/peps-2013-0036/html |journal=Peace Economics, Peace Science and Public Policy |language=en |volume=19 |issue=3 |pages=459–471 |doi=10.1515/peps-2013-0036 |issn=1554-8597 |s2cid=154616493|url-access=subscription }}</ref> and [[Syngman Rhee]] created a US-backed nationalist dictatorship in South Korea.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kim |first=Quee-Young |date=1996-06-01 |title=From Protest to Change of Regime: The 4–19 Revolt and The Fall of the Rhee Regime in South Korea* |url=https://doi.org/10.1093/sf/74.4.1179 |journal=Social Forces |volume=74 |issue=4 |pages=1179–1208 |doi=10.1093/sf/74.4.1179 |issn=0037-7732|url-access=subscription }}</ref> [[Park Chung Hee]]<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2054405,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604011708/http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2054405,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 4, 2011|title=Park Chung Hee |magazine=[[Time Magazine|Time]]|date=August 23, 1999}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.zum.com/articles/3701203?c=01&sc=2 |language=ko |script-title=ko:인혁당 유가족, 새누리당사 앞 항의 방문|date=September 12, 2012}}</ref> and [[Chun Doo-hwan]]<ref>{{cite web |last1=Borowiec |first1=Steven |title=South Korea's ex-dictator Chun Doo-hwan tries to keep low profile in his twilight years |url=https://www.latimes.com/world/asia/la-fg-south-korea-dictator-20151129-story.html |website=[[Los Angeles Times]] |access-date=28 March 2022 |date=29 November 2015}}</ref><ref name="ATM">{{cite web |last1=Goh |first1=Da-Sol |title=Ex-S Korea dictator is belligerently unrepentant |url=https://asiatimes.com/2019/12/a-former-dictator-in-south-korea-has-yet-to-do-soul-searching-for-his-atrocities-in-the-1980s/ |website=Asia Times |access-date=28 March 2022 |date=17 December 2019}}</ref><ref name="NYT">{{cite web |last1=Sang-Hun |first1=Choe |title=Chun Doo-hwan, Ex-Military Dictator in South Korea, Dies at 90 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/23/world/asia/chun-doo-hwan-dead.html |website=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=28 March 2022 |date=23 November 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Scars still raw 40 years after dictator crushed South Korea uprising |url=https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/3084753/gwangju-massacre-scars-still-raw-40-years-after-dictator |website=South China Morning Post |access-date=28 March 2022 |language=en |date=17 May 2020 |quote=On May 18, 1980 demonstrators protesting against dictator Chun Doo-hwan's declaration of martial law confronted his troops and 10 days of violence ensued.}}</ref> would continue the pattern of dictatorship in South Korea until the [[June Democratic Struggle]] in 1987, which enabled the country's first free and fair elections and its subsequent democratization under [[Roh Tae Woo]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Paik |first=Nak-chung |date=2007-06-04 |title=Democracy and Peace in Korea Twenty Years After June 1987: Where Are We Now, and Where Do We Go from Here? |url=https://apjjf.org/-Nak-chung-Paik/2440/article.html |journal=The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus |volume=5 |issue=6}}</ref>
The Middle East was decolonized during the Cold War, and many nationalist movements gained strength post-independence. These nationalist movements supported [[Non-Aligned Movement|non-alignment]], keeping most Middle Eastern dictatorships out of the American and Soviet spheres of influence. These movements supported [[Pan-Arabism|pan-Arab]] [[Nasserism]] during most of the Cold War, but they were largely replaced by [[Islamic nationalism]] by the 1980s.<ref name=":3" /> Several Middle Eastern countries were the subject of military coups in the 1950s and 1960s, including Iraq, Syria, North Yemen, and South Yemen.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Be'eri |first=Eliezer |date=1982-01-01 |title=The waning of the military coup in Arab politics |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/00263208208700496 |journal=Middle Eastern Studies |volume=18 |issue=1 |pages=69–128 |doi=10.1080/00263208208700496 |issn=0026-3206|url-access=subscription }}</ref> A [[1953 Iranian coup d'état|1953 coup]] overseen by the American and British governments restored [[Mohammad Reza Pahlavi]] as the absolute monarch of Iran, who in turn was overthrown during the [[Iranian Revolution]] of 1979 that established [[Ruhollah Khomeini]] as the [[Supreme Leader of Iran]] under a Shia [[Islamism|Islamist]] government, with [[Ali Khamenei]] taking over after Khomeini's death.<ref name=":3">{{Cite book |last=Yaqub |first=Salim |title=The Oxford Handbook of the Cold War |editor-first1=Richard H |editor-first2=Petra |editor-last1=Immerman |editor-last2=Goedde |date=2013-01-01 |chapter=The Cold War and the Middle East |pages=246–264 |chapter-url=https://academic.oup.com/edited-volume/34525/chapter/292918670 |language=en |doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199236961.013.0015|isbn=978-0199236961 }}</ref>

==== Europe ====
[[File:El Caudillo y Rafael L. Trujillo en una demostración 1.jpg|thumb|Spanish dictator [[Francisco Franco]] with [[Dominican Republic|Dominican]] dictator [[Rafael Trujillo]], 1954]]
[[António de Oliveira Salazar]] became Prime Minister of Portugal in 1932 and established the [[Estado Novo (Portugal)|''Estado Novo'']].{{Sfn|Lee|2016|p=305–306}} [[Francisco Franco]] took power in Spain after leading the [[Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War)|Nationalist faction]] to victory in the [[Spanish Civil War]] and became a dictator in 1939.{{Sfn|Lee|2016|pp=297–298}}

During World War II, many countries of Central and Eastern Europe had been occupied by the Soviet Union. When the war ended, these countries were incorporated into the Soviet sphere of influence, and the Soviet Union exercised control over their governments.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Iordachi |first1=Constantin |last2=Apor |first2=Péter |date=2013-01-01 |title=Introduction: Studying Communist Dictatorships: From Comparative to Transnational History |url=https://brill.com/view/journals/eceu/40/1-2/article-p1_1.xml |journal=East Central Europe |language=en |volume=40 |issue=1–2 |pages=1–35 |doi=10.1163/18763308-04001016 |issn=1876-3308|url-access=subscription }}</ref> [[Josip Broz Tito]] declared a communist government in Yugoslavia during World War II, which was initially aligned with the Soviet Union. The relations between the countries were strained by Soviet attempts to influence Yugoslavia, leading to the [[Tito–Stalin split]] in 1948.{{Sfn|Staar|1982|pp=230–232}} Albania was established as a communist dictatorship under [[Enver Hoxha]] in 1944. It was initially aligned with Yugoslavia, but its alignment shifted throughout the Cold War between Yugoslavia, the Soviet Union, and China.{{Sfn|Staar|1982|pp=1–2}} The stability of the Soviet Union weakened in the 1980s. The Soviet economy became unsustainable, and communist governments lost the support of intellectuals and their population in general. In 1989, the Soviet Union was [[Dissolution of the Soviet Union|dissolved]], and communism was abandoned by the countries of Central and Eastern Europe through a series of [[Revolutions of 1989|revolutions]].<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last=Schöpflin |first=George |date=1990-01-01 |title=The end of communism in Eastern Europe |url=https://doi.org/10.2307/2622187 |journal=International Affairs |volume=66 |issue=1 |pages=3–16 |doi=10.2307/2622187 |jstor=2622187 |issn=0020-5850|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

==== Latin America ====
Military dictatorships remained prominent in Latin America during the Cold War, though the number of coups declined starting in the 1980s. Between 1967 and 1991, 12 Latin American countries underwent at least one military coup, with Haiti and Honduras experiencing three and Bolivia experiencing eight.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Dix |first=Robert H. |date=1994 |title=Military Coups and Military Rule in Latin America |url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0095327X9402000307 |journal=Armed Forces & Society |language=en |volume=20 |issue=3 |pages=439–456 |doi=10.1177/0095327X9402000307 |s2cid=144439768 |issn=0095-327X|url-access=subscription }}</ref> A one-party communist dictatorship was formed in Cuba when the dictatorship of [[Fulgencio Batista]], weakened by an American arms embargo against his regime, was overthrown in the [[Cuban Revolution]], creating the only Soviet-backed dictatorship in the western hemisphere.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Thomas |first=Hugh |date=1987 |title=Cuba: The United States and Batista, 1952-58 |url=https://heinonline.org/HOL/Page?handle=hein.journals/wrldaf149&id=183&div=&collection= |journal=World Affairs |volume=149 |issue=4 |pages=169–175}}</ref> To maintain power, Chilean dictator [[Augusto Pinochet]] organized [[Operation Condor]] with other South American dictators to facilitate cooperation between their respective intelligence agencies and secret police organizations.<ref name=":32">{{Cite magazine |date=1999-03-19 |title=Operation Condor Haunts Bolivian President Hugo Banzer |magazine=NotiSur |publisher=University of New Mexico |issn=1060-4189}}</ref>

=== 21st century dictatorships ===
{{further|List of countries by system of government}}
[[File:Economist_Intelligence_Unit_Democracy_Index_2024.svg|alt=|thumb|The 2024 [[Economist Intelligence Unit]] ''Democracy Index'' map
{{Col-begin}}
{{Col-break}}
'''Full democracies'''
{{Legend|#0c3091|9.00–10.00}}
{{legend|#2f5cd5|8.00–8.99}}
{{Col-break}}
'''Flawed democracies'''
{{legend|#6bd2df|7.00–7.99}}
{{legend|#c3eded|6.00–6.99}}
{{Col-break}}
'''Hybrid regimes'''
{{legend|#f9f8bb|5.00–5.99}}
{{legend|#fad45d|4.00–4.99}}
{{Col-break}}
'''Authoritarian regimes'''
{{legend|#da820f|3.00–3.99}}
{{legend|#a8261f|2.00–2.99}}
{{legend|#66000f|1.00–1.99}}
{{legend|#240011|0.00–0.99}}
{{Col-break}}
'''No data'''
{{legend|#c0c0c0|}}
{{Col-end}}|upright=2]]

The nature of dictatorship changed in much of the world at the onset of the 21st century. Between the 1990s and the 2000s, most [[dictator]]s moved away from being "larger-than-life figures" that controlled the populace through terror and isolated themselves from the global community. This was replaced by a trend of developing a positive public image to maintain support among the populace and moderating rhetoric to integrate with the global community.<ref name=":6">{{Cite book |last1=Guriev |first1=Sergei |title=Spin Dictators: The Changing Face of Tyranny in the 21st Century |last2=Treisman |first2=Daniel |publisher=Princeton University Press |year=2022 |isbn=9780691211411 |pages=3–29 |chapter=Fear and Spin}}</ref> In contrast to the overtly repressive nature of 20th-century dictatorships, [[Authoritarianism|authoritarian]] strongmen of the 21st century are sometimes labeled "[[Informational autocracy|spin dictators]]", rulers who attempt to monopolize power by authoritarian upgrading, appealing to [[Democracy|democratic]] sentiments and covertly pursue repressive measures; such as embracing modern technology, manipulation of information content, regulation of cyberspace, slandering dissidents, etc. On the other hand, a handful of dictators like [[Bashar al-Assad]] and [[Kim Jong Un]] rule with deadly repression, violence and [[State terrorism|state-terrorism]] to establish extensive securitization through fear, in line with many 20th century dictatorships.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Treisman |first1=Daniel |last2=Guriev |first2=Sergei |date=27 April 2023 |title=On the Tactics of Modern Strongmen |url=https://press.princeton.edu/ideas/on-the-tactics-of-modern-strongmen |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230505032450/https://press.princeton.edu/ideas/on-the-tactics-of-modern-strongmen |archive-date=5 May 2023 |publisher=Princeton University Press}}</ref><ref name="Guriev, Treisman 2022"/>

[[File:Alexander Lukashenko in a meeting with Bashar al-Assad in December 2003 (2) (twice-cropped).jpg|thumb|Meeting between [[Syria]]n dictator [[Bashar al-Assad]] and [[Belarus]]ian autocrat [[Alexander Lukashenko]] in 2003]]

The development of the [[internet]] and [[Computer-mediated communication|digital communication]] in the 21st century have prompted dictatorships to shift from traditional means of control to digital ones, including the use of [[artificial intelligence]] to analyze mass communications, [[internet censorship]] to restrict the flow of information, and [[troll farm]]s to manipulate public opinion.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Kendall-Taylor |first1=Andrea |last2=Frantz |first2=Erica |last3=Wright |first3=Joseph |date=2022-10-27 |title=The Digital Dictators |language=en-US |url=https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/china/2020-02-06/digital-dictators |access-date=2022-12-24 |issn=0015-7120}}</ref> 21st-century dictatorships regularly hold [[sham election]]s with massive approval ratings, for seeking public legitimacy and maintaining the autocrat's image as a popular figure loved by the masses. The manipulated election results are often weaponized as propaganda tools in [[information warfare]], to galvanize supporters of the dictatorships against dissidents as well as to manufacture compliance of the masses by publicizing falsified data figures. Another objective is to portray the [[dictator]] as the guardian figure who unifies the [[country]], without whom its security disintegrates and chaos ensues. [[North Korea]] is the only country in East Asia to be ruled by the [[Kim dynasty (North Korea)|Kim family]] after the death of [[Kim Il-sung]] and hands over to his son [[Kim Jong-il]] in 1994 and grandson [[Kim Jong-un]] in 2011, as of today in the 21st century.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Thomson |first=Jonny |date=25 May 2023 |title=Why don't dictators use realistic fake numbers when rigging election results? |url=https://bigthink.com/the-present/dictator-election-results/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230526052912/https://bigthink.com/the-present/dictator-election-results/ |archive-date=26 May 2023 |website=Big Think}}</ref>

[[File:2024 BRICS Summit (1729758533).jpg|thumb|Russia's autocratic leader [[Vladimir Putin]], China's [[Xi Jinping]], Egypt's [[Abdel Fattah el-Sisi]] (from r. to l.) and others at the [[16th BRICS summit]] in [[Kazan]], Russia, 24 October 2024]]

Dictatorship in Europe largely ended after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, and the liberalization of most communist states.<ref name=":2" /> Belarus under the rule of [[Alexander Lukashenko]] has been described as "the last European dictatorship",<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Rutland |first=Peter |date=2006 |title=Belarus: The last dictator |url=https://www.ceeol.com/search/article-detail?id=104569 |journal=The Analyst - Central and Eastern European Review - English Edition |language=English |issue=4 |pages=59–70 |issn=1787-0364}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Brel-Fournier |first1=Yuliya |last2=Morrison |first2=Minion K.C. |date=2021 |title=The Predicament of Europe's 'Last Dictator' |url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/22338659211018326 |journal=International Area Studies Review |language=en |volume=24 |issue=3 |pages=169–192 |doi=10.1177/22338659211018326 |issn=2233-8659 |s2cid=236409309|url-access=subscription }}</ref> though the [[Russia under Vladimir Putin|rule]] of [[Vladimir Putin]] in Russia has also been described as a dictatorship.<ref name="Putin1">{{Cite journal |last1=Robertson |first1=Graeme |last2=Greene |first2=Samuel |date=2017 |title=The Kremlin Emboldened: How Putin Wins Support |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/671992 |journal=Journal of Democracy |volume=28 |issue=4 |pages=86–100 |doi=10.1353/jod.2017.0069 |issn=1086-3214 |s2cid=158185856|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref name="Putin2">{{Cite journal |last=Kotkin |first=Stephen |date=2015 |title=The Resistible Rise of Vladimir Putin: Russia's Nightmare Dressed Like a Daydream |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/24483492 |journal=Foreign Affairs |volume=94 |issue=2 |pages=140–153 |issn=0015-7120 |jstor=24483492}}</ref><ref name="Putin3">{{cite web |last=Pettypiece |first=Shannon |date=2022-04-12 |title=Biden suggests Putin is a 'dictator' who has committed 'genocide half a world away' |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2022/04/12/biden-suggests-putin-is-a-dictator-who-has-committed-genocide-half-a-world-away.html |access-date=2022-07-31 |website=CNBC}}</ref> Latin America saw a period of liberalization similar to that of Europe at the end of the Cold War, with Cuba being the only Latin American country that did not experience any degree of liberalization between 1992 and 2010.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Mainwaring |first1=Scott |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uXsLAgAAQBAJ |title=Democracies and Dictatorships in Latin America: Emergence, Survival, and Fall |last2=Pérez-Liñán |first2=Aníbal |date=2013 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-19001-5 |pages=244 |language=en}}</ref> The countries of Central Asia did not liberalize after the fall of the Soviet Union, instead forming as dictatorships led by former elites of the Communist Party and then later by successive dictators. These countries maintain parliaments and human rights organizations, but these remain under the control of the countries' respective dictators.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rumer |first=Boris Z. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cnXVyW1QIIYC |title=Central Asia at the End of the Transition |date=2005 |publisher=M.E. Sharpe |isbn=978-0-7656-1576-3 |pages=3–4 |language=en}}</ref>

The Middle East and North Africa did not undergo liberalization during the [[third wave of democratisation]], and most countries in this region remain dictatorships in the 21st century. Dictatorships in the Middle East and Northern Africa are either illiberal republics in which a president holds power through unfair elections, or they are absolute monarchies in which power is inherited, such as [[Saudi Arabia]] under Crown Prince [[Mohammed bin Salman]]. [[Iraq]], [[Israel]], [[Lebanon]], and [[Palestinian territories|Palestine]] are the only democratic nations in the region.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Angrist |first=Michele Penner |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e_EgQwAACAAJ |title=Politics & Society in the Contemporary Middle East |date=2010 |publisher=Lynne Rienner Publishers |isbn=978-1-58826-717-7 |pages=6–7 |language=en}}</ref> Although [[Tunisia]] was seen as a pillar of the [[Arab Spring]] for democracy, by 2023, it was no longer classified as a democracy.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://freedomhouse.org/country/tunisia/freedom-world/2021 | title=Tunisia: Freedom in the World 2021 Country Report }}</ref> [[Turkey]]'s President [[Recep Tayyip Erdoğan]] has been described by several sources as a dictator.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Tisdall |first=Simon |date=19 April 2018 |title=Recep Tayyip Erdoğan: a dictator in all but name seeks complete control |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/apr/19/recep-tayyip-erdogan-turkey-president-election-dictator-seeks-total-control |access-date=2024-06-27 |website=The Guardian}}</ref>

== Economics ==
[[File:GDP per capita vs type of political regime, OWID.svg|thumb|GDP per capita vs type of political regime. Most countries with dictatorships are poor except for some [[petrostates]].]]
Most dictatorships exist in countries with high levels of poverty. Poverty has a destabilizing effect on government, causing democracy to fail and regimes to fall more often.{{sfn|Ezrow|Frantz|2011|p=129}} The form of government does not correlate with the amount of economic growth, and dictatorships on average grow at the same rate as democracies, though dictatorships have been found to have larger fluctuations. Dictators are more likely to implement long-term investments into the country's economy if they feel secure in their power. Exceptions to the pattern of poverty in dictatorships include oil-rich Middle Eastern dictatorships and the [[East Asian Tiger]]s during their periods of dictatorship.{{sfn|Ezrow|Frantz|2011|pp=130–131}}

The type of economy in a dictatorship can affect how it functions. Economies based on natural resources allow dictators more power, as they can easily [[Rent-seeking|extract rents]] without strengthening or cooperating with other institutions. More complex economies require additional cooperation between the dictator and other groups. The economic focus of a dictatorship often depends on the strength of the opposition, as a weaker opposition allows a dictator to extract additional wealth from the economy through corruption.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last1=Gandhi |first1=Jennifer |last2=Przeworski |first2=Adam |date=2006 |title=Cooperation, Cooptation, and Rebellion Under Dictatorships |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1468-0343.2006.00160.x |journal=Economics and Politics |language=en |volume=18 |issue=1 |pages=1–26 |doi=10.1111/j.1468-0343.2006.00160.x |s2cid=31652364 |issn=0954-1985|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

== Legitimacy and stability ==
{{see also|Negative selection (politics)}}
[[File:Vladimir Putin and Serdar Berdymuhammedow (2024 Victory Day).jpg|thumb|right|300px|[[Vladimir Putin]] and [[Serdar Berdimuhamedow|Serdar Berdimuhammedov]]]]
Several factors determine the stability of a dictatorship, and they must maintain some degree of popular support to prevent resistance groups from growing. This may be ensured through incentives, such as distribution of financial resources or promises of security, or it may be through [[political repression]], in which failing to support the regime is punished. Stability can be weakened when opposition groups grow and unify or when elites are not loyal to the regime.{{sfn|Ezrow|Frantz|2011|pp=55–58}} One-party dictatorships are generally more stable and last longer than military or personalist dictatorships.<ref name=":4" />

A dictatorship may fall because of a military coup, foreign intervention, negotiation, or popular [[revolution]].{{sfn|Ezrow|Frantz|2011|pp=61–62}} A military coup is often carried out when a regime is threatening the country's stability or during periods of [[Social unrest|societal unrest]].{{sfn|Ezrow|Frantz|2011|p=63}} Foreign intervention takes place when another country seeks to topple a regime by invading the country or supporting the opposition.{{sfn|Ezrow|Frantz|2011|p=64}} A dictator may negotiate the end of a regime if it has lost legitimacy or if a violent removal seems likely.{{sfn|Ezrow|Frantz|2011|p=65}} The Revolution takes place when the opposition group grows large enough that elites in the regime cannot suppress it or choose not to.{{sfn|Ezrow|Frantz|2011|p=66}} Negotiated removals are more likely to end in democracy, while removals by force are more likely to result in a new dictatorial regime. A dictator that has concentrated significant power is more likely to be exiled, imprisoned, or killed after ouster, and accordingly, they are more likely to refuse negotiation and cling to power.{{Sfn|Geddes|Wright|Frantz|2018|pp=206–207}}

Dictatorships are typically more aggressive than democracy when in conflict with other nations, as dictators do not have to fear the electoral costs of war. Military dictatorships are more prone to conflict due to the inherent military strength associated with such a regime, and personalist dictatorships are more prone to conflict due to the weaker institutions to check the dictator's power.{{sfn|Ezrow|Frantz|2011|pp=144–145}} In the 21st century, dictatorships have moved toward greater integration with the global community and increasingly attempt to present themselves as democratic.<ref name=":6" /> Dictatorships are often recipients of [[Aid|foreign aid]] on the condition that they make advances toward [[democratization]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Wright |first=Joseph |date=2009 |title=How Foreign Aid Can Foster Democratization in Authoritarian Regimes |journal=American Journal of Political Science |language=en |volume=53 |issue=3 |pages=552–571 |doi=10.1111/j.1540-5907.2009.00386.x|doi-access=free }}</ref> A study found that dictatorships that engage in oil drilling are more likely to remain in power, with 70.63% of the dictators who engage in oil drilling still being in power after five years of dictatorship, while only 59.92% of the non-oil producing dictators survive the first five years.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Crespo Cuaresma |first1=Jesus |last2=Oberhofer |first2=Harald |last3=Raschky |first3=Paul A. |date=September 2011 |title=Oil and the duration of dictatorships |journal=Public Choice |volume=148 |issue=3–4 |pages=505–530 |doi=10.1007/s11127-010-9671-0 |s2cid=154677328|hdl=10419/71875 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>

=== Elections ===
[[File:Wahlzettel-3.-Reich.jpg|thumb|An electoral slip in the [[1936 German parliamentary election and referendum|1936 German parliamentary election]]. Adolf Hitler and his inner circle are the only option.]]
Most dictatorships hold elections to maintain legitimacy and stability, but these elections are typically uncompetitive and the opposition is not permitted to win. Elections allow a dictatorship to exercise some control over the opposition by setting the terms under which the opposition challenges the regime.{{sfn|Ezrow|Frantz|2011|pp=67–68}} Elections are also used to control elites within the dictatorship by requiring them to compete with one another and incentivizing them to build support with the populace, allowing the most popular and most competent elites to be promoted in the regime. Elections also support the legitimacy of a dictatorship by presenting the image of democracy, establishing plausible deniability of its status as a dictatorship for both the populace and foreign governments.{{sfn|Ezrow|Frantz|2011|pp=69–70}} Should a dictatorship fail, elections also permit dictators and elites to accept defeat without fearing violent recourse.{{sfn|Ezrow|Frantz|2011|p=69}} Dictatorships may influence the results of an election through [[electoral fraud]], intimidation or bribing of candidates and voters, use of state resources such as media control, manipulation of electoral laws, restricting who may run as a candidate, or disenfranchising demographics that may oppose the dictatorship.{{sfn|Ezrow|Frantz|2011|pp=71–74}}

In the 20th century, most dictatorships held elections in which voters could only choose to support the dictatorship, with only one-quarter of partisan dictatorships permitting opposition candidates to participate.{{Sfn|Geddes|Wright|Frantz|2018|p=137}} Since the end of the Cold War, more dictatorships have established "semi-competitive" elections in which opposition is allowed to participate in elections but is not allowed to win, with approximately two-thirds of dictatorships permitting opposition candidates in 2018.{{Sfn|Geddes|Wright|Frantz|2018|p=138}} Opposition parties in dictatorships may be restricted by preventing them from campaigning, banning more popular opposition parties, preventing opposition members from forming a party, or requiring that candidates be a member of the ruling party.{{Sfn|Geddes|Wright|Frantz|2018|p=138}} Dictatorships may hold semi-competitive elections to qualify for foreign aid, to demonstrate a dictator's control over the government, or to incentivize the party to expand its information-gathering capacity, particularly at the local level. Semi-competitive elections also have the effect of incentivizing members of the ruling party to provide better treatment of citizens so they will be chosen as party nominees due to their popularity.{{Sfn|Geddes|Wright|Frantz|2018|pp=138–140}}

=== Violence ===
In a dictatorship, violence is used to coerce or repress all opposition to the dictator's rule, and the strength of a dictatorship depends on its use of violence. This violence is frequently exercised through institutions such as military or police forces.{{Sfn|Geddes|Wright|Frantz|2018|p=154}} The use of violence by a dictator is frequently most severe during the first few years of a dictatorship, because the regime has not yet solidified its rule and more detailed information for targeted coercion is not yet available. As the dictatorship becomes more established, it moves away from violence by resorting to the use of other coercive measures, such as restricting people's access to information and tracking the political opposition. Dictators are incentivized to avoid the use of violence once a reputation of violence is established, as it damages the dictatorship's other institutions and poses a threat to the dictator's rule should government forces become disloyal.{{Sfn|Geddes|Wright|Frantz|2018|p=155}}

Institutions that coerce the opposition through the use of violence may serve different roles or they may be used to counterbalance one another to prevent one institution from becoming too powerful. [[Secret police]] are used to gather information about specific political opponents and carry out targeted acts of violence against them, [[paramilitary]] forces defend the regime from coups, and formal militaries defend the dictatorship during foreign invasions and major civil conflicts.{{Sfn|Geddes|Wright|Frantz|2018|p=155}}

[[Terrorism]] is less common in dictatorships. Allowing the opposition to have representation in the regime, such as through a legislature, further reduces the likelihood of terrorist attacks in a dictatorship.<ref name="Terrorism In Dictatorships"/> Military and one-party dictatorships are more likely to experience terrorism than personalist dictatorships, as these regimes are under more pressure to undergo institutional change in response to terrorism.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Conrad |first1=Courtenay R. |last2=Conrad |first2=Justin |last3=Young |first3=Joseph K. |date=2014 |title=Tyrants and Terrorism: Why Some Autocrats are Terrorized While Others are Not |journal=International Studies Quarterly |language=en |volume=58 |issue=3 |pages=539–549 |doi=10.1111/isqu.12120|doi-access=free }}</ref>

<gallery widths="200" heights="145">
File:Pasillo de la memoria UTN FRA (2015) 11.JPG|Photographs of [[Dirty War|victims]] of the [[National Reorganization Process|civic-military dictatorship of Argentina]]
File:Cambodia 2011 monuments 10.jpg|Rooms of the [[Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum]] contain thousands of photos taken by the [[Khmer Rouge]] of their victims.
</gallery>

== See also ==
{{Div col|colwidth=15em}}
* [[Ba'athism]]
* [[Benevolent dictatorship]]
* [[Communism]]
* [[Constitutional dictatorship]]
* [[Despotism]]
* [[Elective dictatorship]]
* [[Generalissimo]]
* [[Hoxhaism]]
* [[Juche]]
* [[Leninism]]
* [[List of cults of personality]]
* [[List of titles used by dictators]]
* [[List of totalitarian regimes]]
* [[Maximum Leader (disambiguation)]]
* [[Mobutism]]
* [[Fascism]]
* [[Nazism]]
* [[People's democratic dictatorship]]
* [[Putinism]]
* [[Ruscism]]
* [[Selectorate theory]]
* [[Stalinism]]
* [[Strongman (politics)|Strongman]]
* [[Supreme Leader (disambiguation)]]
* [[Regime change in autocracies]]
* [[Revolutions in autocracies after military defeats]]
{{Div col end}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== Bibliography ==
* {{Cite book |last1=Ezrow |first1=Natasha M. |last2=Frantz |first2=Erica |year=2011 |title=Dictators and Dictatorships: Understanding Authoritarian Regimes and Their Leaders |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N8eoAwAAQBAJ |publisher=Bloomsbury |isbn=9781441196828}}
* {{Cite book |last=Galván |first=Javier A. |date=2012-12-21 |title=Latin American Dictators of the 20th Century: The Lives and Regimes of 15 Rulers |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kW3P9uf-jRYC |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-0-7864-6691-7 |language=en}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Geddes |first1=Barbara |last2=Wright |first2=Joseph |last3=Frantz |first3=Erica |year=2018 |title=How Dictatorships Work |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qnlnDwAAQBAJ |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9781107115828}}
* {{Cite book |last=Lee |first=Stephen J. |year=2016 |title=European Dictatorships 1918–1945 |url=https://archive.org/details/europeandictator0000lees |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9781315646176 |edition=4th}}
* {{Cite book |last=Staar |first=Richard F. |year=1982 |title=Communist Regimes in Eastern Europe |url=https://archive.org/details/communistregimes0000staa |edition=4th |publisher=Hoover Institution Press |isbn=9780817976934}}

== Further reading ==
* {{Cite journal |last=Behrends |first=Jan C. |date=2017-03-14 |title=Dictatorship: Modern Tyranny Between Leviathan and Behemoth (Version 2.0) (English version) |journal=Docupedia-Zeitgeschichte |url=https://zeitgeschichte-digital.de/doks/frontdoor/index/index/docId/790 |doi=10.14765/zzf.dok.2.790.v2}}
* {{Cite book |author=Bueno de Mesquita |first1=Bruce |last2=Smith |first2=Alastair |year=2011 |title=The Dictator's Handbook: Why Bad Behavior Is Almost Always Good Politics |publisher=Random House |page=272 |isbn=978-1-61039-044-6 |oclc=701015473}}
* {{Cite book |last=Dikötter |first=Frank |date=2019-12-03 |title=How to Be a Dictator: The Cult of Personality in the Twentieth Century |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=35mkDwAAQBAJ |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing USA |isbn=978-1-63557-380-0 |language=en}}
** Scholarly analysis of Mussolini, Hitler, Stalin, and Mao, as well as Kim Il Sung of North Korea; François Duvalier, or Papa Doc, of Haiti; Nicolae Ceaușescu of Romania; and Mengistu Haile Mariam of Ethiopia. [https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-to-be-a-dictator-review-a-poetics-for-tyrants-11575065830 online review] {{subscription required}}; also [https://www.amazon.com/How-Be-Dictator-Personality-Twentieth/dp/1635573793/ excerpt]
* {{Cite book |author=Dobson |first=William J. |year=2013 |author-link=William J. Dobson |title=The Dictator's Learning Curve: Inside the Global Battle for Democracy |publisher=Anchor |isbn=978-0-307-47755-2 }}
* {{Cite book |last1=Fraenkel |first1=Ernst |last2=Meierhenrich |first2=Jens |date=2017-04-13 |title=The Dual State: A Contribution to the Theory of Dictatorship |url=https://academic.oup.com/book/3593713 |publisher=Oxford University Pressn |doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198716204.001.0001 |isbn=978-0-19-102533-4 |language=en}}
* {{Cite book |last=Friedrich |first=Carl J. |author2=Brzezinski, Zbigniew K. |author-link2=Zbigniew Brzezinski |year=1965 |title=Totalitarian Dictatorship and Autocracy |url=https://archive.org/details/totalitariandict0000frie |url-access=registration |edition=2nd |publisher=Praeger}}

== External links ==
* {{Wikiquote inline}}

{{Political philosophy}}
{{Authoritarian types of rule}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Dictatorship| ]]
[[Category:Authoritarianism]]
[[Category:Oligarchy]]