The leader of a dictatorship is called a dictator.Politics in a dictatorship are controlled by the dictator and facilitated through an inner circle of elites that include advisers, generals, and other high-ranking officials. [146], 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. [45] Although, when it comes to polling and elections a dictator could use his power to override private preferences. [135] Negotiated removals are more likely to end in democracy, while removals by force are more likely to result in a new dictatorial regime. This may sound like a contradiction of terms to many people. If this institution can be effectively controlled by the dictator, it can become avaluable instruments of control over the population. Personalist regimes diverge from other regimes when it comes to their longevity, methods of breakdown, levels of corruption, and proneness to conflicts. This is thanks to an oil boom that enriched his family at the expense of the Equatorial Guinea citizens. Equatorial Guinea. Dictatorships have arisen throughout history, usually in times of crisis. Modern Dictatorship Countries. People living under a dictatorship are often persecuted for unethical reasons, including their religion, sexual orientation, or economic status. Allowing the opposition to have representation in the regime, such as through a legislature, further reduces the likelihood of terrorist attacks in a dictatorship. [147] 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. Imelda Marcos was the wife of Ferdinand Marcos, who ruled over the . Cuba - Dictatorship 5. Fidel Castro was one of the most iconic latin american dictators, who lived in the 20th century. (2010), Cheibub, Gandhi, and Vreeland developed a six-fold regime classification scheme, resulting what the authors called as the DD datasets. The 2010 version of Polity data series covers 189 countries from 1800 to 2009. This page was last edited on 4 March 2023, at 02:19. 1 Norway 2 Iceland 3 Sweden 4 New Zealand 5 Denmark =6 Canada =6 Ireland 8 Australia =9 Switzerland =9 Finland Examples include the Personalist/Military dictatorship of Pakistan from 1977 to 1988 and the Single-Party/Military hybrid that controlled El Salvador from 1948 to 1984. 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. Elections allow a dictatorship to exercise some control over the opposition by setting the terms under which the opposition challenges the regime. The leader may be supported by a party or military, but still retains the overwhelming majority of power, especially regarding whom to place in which governmental roles, and relies heavily upon their own charisma to maintain control. The table below offers a full list of which countries are what type of democracy. [72] The societal upheaval caused by World War I and the unstable peace it produced further contributed to instability that benefited extremist movements and rallied support for their causes. [1][3] Resorting to democratic concepts by Karl Popper and Joseph Schumpeter, Przeworski defended the minimalist approach, citing Popper that "the only system in which citizens can get rid of governments without bloodshed. A semi-presidential (mixed) democracy has a government that needs the majority of support from a legislature to exist and whose head of state is popularly elected for a fixed term. Nations with a legacy of military dictatorship (s) In Africa Algeria (1965-1994) Burkina Faso (1966-1991) Burundi (1966-1993) Central African Republic (1966-1993) Chad (1975-1991) Congo-Brazzaville (1968-1992) Equatorial Guinea (1968-1982) Ethiopia (1974-1991) Gambia, The (1994-1997) Guinea (1984-1991) Ghana (1966-1969; 1972-1979; 1981-1993) The Democracy-Dictatorship Index has the main regime types of "democracy" and "dictatorship" and three sub-types for each as well. To enact policy, a dictator must either appease the regime's elites or attempt to replace them. [103], Military dictatorships remained prominent in Latin America during the Cold War, though the number of coups declined starting in the 1980s. [136], Dictatorships are typically more aggressive than democracy when in conflict with other nations, as dictators do not have to fear electoral costs of war. Kim Jong-Il (1.6 million deaths) Kim Jong-il in 2010. Deadliest Dictator Regimes in History Maoist Catastrophe Between 1946 and 1976, China suffered under the rule of Mao Zedong, a communist revolutionary who founded the People's Republic of China. In the past, they wore olive-green uniforms and used military might to gain power. In fact, most dictators adopt common appellations such as "President" or "Prime Minister", so they must be identified via their actions and policies rather than their title. This list answers the questions, "What countries are dictatorships?" The deadliest dictatorships are discussed below. [10] Political scientist Juan Jos Linz identifies a spectrum of political systems with democracies and totalitarian regimes separated by authoritarian regimes with varied classifications of hybrid systems. [4] Though the most recent data set is only updated for 2008, there is planning by Cheibub to update it to the present year. Uganda - 1971 to 1979 - Idi Amin Dada. [126] For dictatorships, societal compliance is necessary for the ruling entity to maintain its desired order, laws, revenue, and policies. Exceptions to the pattern of poverty in dictatorships include oil-rich Middle Eastern dictatorships and the East Asian Tigers during their periods of dictatorship. The 20th century saw the rise of fascist and communist dictatorships in Europe; fascism was 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. There must be more than one party competing in the elections. [1]:71. (Dictator of Italy and Principal Founder of Fascism Who Was Prime Minister of Italy from 1922 to 1943.) Between 1950 and 2016, one-party dictatorships made up 57% of authoritarian regimes in the world,[26] and one-party dictatorships have continued to expand more quickly than other forms of dictatorship in the latter half of the 20th century. In some cases, nations may have multiple ruling bodies or government types, meaning they're not exclusively countries that are governed by dictatorships. - Quora Answer (1 of 66): I will give the country names as well as who the dictator is. They are more likely to end in violence and less likely to democratize than other forms of dictatorship. He responded by ordering the confiscation of food, impossible farming yield quotas, banning private farming for substenance, and introducing internal passports and residency permits, which prevented villagers from seeking food elsewhere. [68] The Spanish American wars of independence took place in the early-19th century, creating many new Latin American governments. Brion Donal Cinhil Urien Haldane, 25th king of Gwynedd, reigned 1095 to 1120. Other countries with dictatorships and authoritarian rule, such as Cuba, Syria, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Belarus, could also be considered totalitarian governments. [126] Four strategies of political control commonly employed by dictatorships are repression, indoctrination, coercive distribution, and infiltration. Repression is the accumulation of state behaviors that target actors who challenge beliefs, institutions, and actions of the dictatorship. The Freedom in the World report evaluates the state of freedom in 195 countries and 14 territories, assigning a score between 0 and 4 in a series of 25 indicators to give a final score of 100. Terrible things have been done in the name of socialism and here are some of the most rigorous dictators. (2010), and further developed and maintained by Cheibub, Gandhi, and Vreeland (2009). Whether or not Putin is a dictator is a matter of some debate. If the head of state is popularly elected for a fixed term then, the democracy is mixed or semi-presidential. "Tyrants, the World's 20 Worst Living Dictators", by David Wallechinsky, ranked Biya together with three others mainly in sub-Saharan Africa: Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo of Equatorial Guinea, and King Mswati of Swaziland. It has a population of approximately 31 million people, making it the 42nd most populous country in the world. [62][63][64] 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. [145] 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. These movements supported pan-Arab Nasserism during most of the Cold War, but they were largely replaced by Islamic nationalism by the 1980s. This is a list of countries, nations, and states governed or ruled by a dictatorship, is sorted alphabetically and contains some information about each nation, such as the capital, and even the official language or currency of the country. Right now, 74% families are homeowners. [119][120][121][122], Most dictatorships exist in countries with high levels of poverty. [143], 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. [33] A ruling party in a one-party dictatorship may rule under any ideology or it may have no guiding ideology. [99] A 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 an Islamist government. 1. 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. In their book "Dictators and Dictatorships: Understanding Authoritarian Regimes and Their Leaders", authors Natasha M. Ezrow and Erica Frantz lay out five types of dictatorships: Power is obtained and maintained through military might. [141] Should a dictatorship fail, elections also permit dictators and elites to accept defeat without fearing violent recourse. Perhaps someday some of these modern dictatorships will cast off their dictators and embrace a more democratic and inclusive form of government. Dictatorships seem much more extreme and unethical to people who enjoy the privilege of an outside perspective. An autocracy, monarchy, and dictatorship. When necessary, a dictator may also make an effort to replace or amend the nation's constitution to empower, enrich, or otherwise benefit the dictator and his/her allies to a greater degree. Under this system, there are three types of dictatorships. A dictatorship is a form of government which is characterized by a leader, or a group of leaders, which holds governmental powers with few to no limitations on them. Based on a "minimalist" theory of democracy, the index relies on rules regarding the existence of competitive elections. [89] Military coups were also a common occurrence after decolonisation, with 14 African countries experiencing at least three successful military coups between 1959 and 2001. When the war ended, these countries were incorporated into the Soviet sphere of influence, and the Soviet Union exercised control over their governments. Hybrid dictatorships: What it's like to live under a Dictatorship. There are currently 22 dictators in Africa, some worse than others. The role of dictator was created for instances when a single leader was needed to command and restore stability. The Soviet economy became unsustainable, and communist governments lost the support of intellectuals. Italy's Mussolini. Many of these governments fell under the control of caudillos, or personalist dictators. Most of them are characterized by a single leader with either no party or one that is weak. [81] These reforms incorporated totalitarianism, fealty to the state, expansionism, corporatism, and anti-communism. [111][112][113] 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. The power structures of dictatorships vary, and different definitions of dictatorship consider different elements of this structure. Its goal is to force compliance by demobilizing or annihilating actors of opposition. If you think that today's world is all about democracy, human rights, and freedoms, you live in a total illusion and you should definitely read our list of 15 countries with dictatorships today. Like the two individuals above, Imelda Marcos gained her power through being the wife of a military dictator. [100] Josip Broz Tito declared a communist government in Yugoslavia during World War II, which was initially aligned with the Soviet Union. 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Just like a dictatorship, an autocracy is a government headed by a single ruler (the autocrat) whose decisions are not subject to legal restraints and who exercises unlimited and undisputed power. Power is obtained and passed on through family connections. Between the 1990s and the 2000s, most dictators moved away from being "larger-than-life figures" that controlled the populace through terror and isolated themselves from the global community. Unfortunately, democracy is still shaky in many countries, a number of which are fighting violent religious insurrections, and the likelihood of any fallen dictator being quickly replaced by another dictator is high. The authors acknowledged that the last rule is more complicated to implement, but stated that it helps researchers to control potential errors and removes subjective judgement from the classification. Current dictatorships include Zimbabwe, Uzbekistan, and North Korea. Its territory covers 652,000 km, making it the 41st largest country in the world. Modern dictatorships first developed in the 19th century, which included Bonapartism in Europe and caudillos in Latin America. Those against dictatorship say personal rights are severely restricted, the system is generally based on force and violence, and it demands complete obedience. This makes it distinct from constitutional monarchy and ceremonial monarchy. Mussolini abolished democracy in Italy in 1922 and became a dictator. Some of the multi-party states with governing communist parties include Brazil, Nepal, India, and Russia. These nationalist movements supported non-alignment, keeping most Middle Eastern dictatorships out of the American and Soviet spheres of influence. [118] Generally, two research approaches exist: the minimalist approach, which focuses on whether a country has continued elections that are competitive, and the substantive approach, which expands the concept of democracy to include human rights, freedom of the press, and the rule of law. A dictator has the ability to make decisions that will have an impact on the people in many ways, and the worse part is, the people do not consent to being ruled. North Korea - One man Dictatorship 2. Monarchies: 3. The name a democracy gives itself or its office does not indicate what type of democracy it is. [98], One of the tasks in political science is to measure and classify regimes as either democracies or dictatorship (authoritarian) countries. Examples of Fascism. [47] Personalist dictatorships also experience growth differently, as they often lack the institutions or qualified leadership to sustain an economy. While the People's Republic of China was initially aligned with the Soviet Union, relations between the two countries deteriorated as the Soviet Union underwent de-Stalinization in the late-1950s. Those who believe that he is a dictator argue that he imprisons his opponents, removed freedom of speechthe press can only publish what he allows them toand has restructured the government to give himself more and longer-lasting power. The head of state may be unelected and still be classified as a democracy. [144] 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. Early African dictatorships were primarily personalist socialist dictatorships, in which a single socialist would take power instead of a ruling party. [8]:456. Factions or divisions among the elites will mitigate their ability to bargain with the dictator, resulting in the dictator having more unrestrained power. Keep note that the head of state, chief executive, government, and legislatures can have their official names be seemingly contradictory to this classification. The theories about society, capital and labor got turned into a dictatorship, genocide, and poverty. Single-party dictatorships are one-party states in which only the party in power is legalized and all opposition parties are banned. [71] 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. Current Heads of State & Dictators - Planet Rulers, President Faustin Archange Touadera of the, President Flix Tshilombo Tshisekedi of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, President Denis Sassou Nguesso of the Republic of the Congo, President Teodoro Mbasogo of Equatorial Guinea, President Abdel Fattah Abdelrahman Burhan of. [56] At least 85 such dictators were chosen over the course of the Roman Republic, the last of which was chosen to wage the Second Punic War. Between 1967 and 1991, 12 Latin American countries underwent at least one military coup, with Haiti and Honduras experiencing three and Bolivia experiencing eight. [139], Most dictatorships hold elections to maintain legitimacy and stability, but these elections are typically uncompetitive and the opposition is not permitted to win. The 10 most capitalist nations in the world Samantha Menzies 22 February 2016, 7:39 pm The 10 most capitalist nations in the world Capitalism is thriving in many parts of the world, with the list. [8]:456, The second distinction made is whether the head of state is popularly elected for a fixed term. ], Based on the regime binary classification idea proposed by Alvarez in 1996,[5] and the Democracy and Development (or DD measure, ACLP dataset) proposed by Przeworski et al. [126] Some of the most ruthless examples of repression in recent history were repression by hunger. The earliest military dictatorships developed in the post-classical era, particularly in Shogun-era Japan and in England under Cromwell. [13] 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.