Forms of Government Other than Democracy: Dictatorship

Related Articles and Links

It is advisable to read the related articles at the links given below for better understanding of the subject:

1. Democracy and other forms of Government  (http://shyam.bhatawdekar.net/index.php/2012/10/25/political-management-democracy-and-various-other-forms-of-government/)

2. Monarchy (http://shyam.bhatawdekar.net/index.php/2012/11/01/political-management-forms-of-government-other-than-democracy-monarchy/)

3. Communism (http://shyam.bhatawdekar.net/index.php/2012/11/01/forms-of-government-other-than-democracy-communism/)

Dictatorship

In modern terms dictatorship is the major form of autocratic governments. In dictatorship the state is controlled or ruled by an individual called dictator. Absolute power rests with the dictator.

The power by a dictator is obtained by any one of the following ways:

1. Inherited as a family legacy.

2. Through force or coup often committed by head of the military of a state.

3. Handed over constitutionally to a person as in emergency in democratic system.

4. By suspending existing constitution after being handed over the office constitutionally and taking over as a dictator.

In dictatorship the power absolutely rests with the dictator unrestricted by law, constitution or other political or social considerations. There is no place of any opposition or public participation in dictatorship. It's exactly opposite of democracy. Individual ideology or often the tyranny of the dictator prevails.

Most the dictators have been notorious for their tyranny, power-mongering, greed and other idiosyncrasies. Dictators have been responsible for killing over 100 million people on earth.

Some of the notorious dictators we know: Hitler (Germany), Mussolini (Italy), Stalin (USSR), Hirohito (Japan), Mao (China), Kim II Sung (North Korea), Amin (Uganda), Hussein (Iraq), Pol Pot (Cambodia), Mubarak (Egypt).

While most of the dictators were infamous for their cruelty, the Italian revolutionary who became dictator of Sicily was quite popular ruler in Italy and accepted as such internationally. But this was an exception.

Most of the tyrannical dictators met their deaths unsung and in shame.

A large majority of the countries with dictatorship types of governments ruled by dictators are striving to abolish the dictatorship and moving to some other forms of governments, mostly the democracy i.e. peoples' government.

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Democracy: Definition and Explanation

Democracy (People's say)

Democracy is one of the forms or systems of government that any political or social organization can use for its governance.

In democracy all the people of a political or social organization, through various methods like consensus, referendum or elected representatives, exercise equal control and govern over the matters which affect their interests.

Democracy represents control of an organization by its members who have a free and equal right to participate in decision-making processes.

It is form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them or through their freely elected representatives or agents, elected by the majority of people.

Peoples' representatives or agents are elected by the people through free electoral system involving periodically held free elections where every citizen should have the right to vote.

Thus it is government of the people, by the people and for the people.

Democracy presents a state of society characterized by formal equality of rights and privileges, political or social equality- condition of classlessness and equality, absence of hereditary and class distinctions, decision making by consensus by majority people and democratic spirit.

Democracy is not instituted  in the same manner in all the democratic countries. In democracy too, there are many forms of government as given below:

1. Consociationalism
2. Deliberative democracy
3. Democratic socialism
4. Totalitarian democracy
    4.1 Dictatorship of the proletariat
5. Direct democracy
6. Egalitarianism
7. Futarchy
8. Open source governance
9. Participatory democracy
10. Representative democracy
      10.1 Parliamentary system
             10.1.1 Consensus government
             10.1.2 Westminster system
      10.2 Polyarchy
      10.3 Presidential system
      10.4 Semi-presidential system 

Forms of Government Other than  Democracy

1. Autocracy (Rule by one)
    1.1 Dictatorship Military dictatorship
          1.1.1 Stratocracy
          1.1.2 Despotis
    1.2 Kleptocracy
    1.3 Kritarchy
    1.4 Monarchy 
         1.4.1 Absolute monarchy
         1.4.2 Constitutional monarchy
         1.4.3 Duchy 
                 1.4.3.1Grand Duchy
         1.4.4 Diarchy
         1.4.5 Enlightened absolutism
         1.4.6 Elective monarchy
         1.4.7 Hereditary monarchy
         1.4.8 Non-Sovereign Monarchy
         1.4.9 Popular monarchy
         1.4.10 Principality
         1.4.11 New Monarchs
         1.4.12 Self-proclaimed monarchy
         1.4.13 Regent
   1.5 Plutocracy 
         1.5.1 Timocracy
   1.6 Police state
   1.7 Theocracy
   1.8 Tyranny

2. Oligarchy (Rule by few) 
    2.1 Saeculum obscurum
    2.2Aristocracy

3. Anarchy (Absence of organized government) 
    3.1 Ochlocracy
    3.2 Tribalism

4. Anarchism (Government of consent, not coercion) 
   4.1 Anarchist communism
   4.2 Libertarian socialism
   4.3 Libertarian municipalism
   4.4 Anarcho-capitalism
   4.5 Isocracy

5. Socialism 
    5.1 Socialist state
    5.2 Communist state
    5.3 Collective leadership
    5.4 State socialism

6. Fascism (Totalitarian single-party state) 
    6.1 National Socialism

7. Republic (The rule of law) 
    7.1 Constitutional republic
    7.2 Parliamentary republic
    7.3 Federal Republic

We will throw light on some of the above-mentioned forms of government in later posts.

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