dictatorship

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dictatorship

political science

Written and fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last Updated: Mar 21, 2024 • Article History

Antonio López de Santa Anna

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Category: History & Society

Key People:: U Ne Win

Related Topics:: tyranny; military dictatorship; dictator; tyrant; caudillo

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Mar. 21, 2024, 8:03 AM ET (AP)

Their children disappeared in Argentina's dictatorship. These mothers have looked for them since

dictatorship, form of government in which one person or a small group possesses absolute power without effective constitutional limitations. The term dictatorship comes from the Latin title dictator, which in the Roman Republic designated a temporary magistrate who was granted extraordinary powers in order to deal with state crises. Modern dictators, however, resemble ancient tyrants rather than ancient dictators. Ancient philosophers’ descriptions of the tyrannies of Greece and Sicily go far toward characterizing modern dictatorships. Dictators usually resort to force or fraud to gain despotic political power, which they maintain through the use of intimidation, terror, and the suppression of ...(100 of 658 words)

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