March 3, 2025
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 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 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 authoritarian or totalitarian,[1] and they can be classified as military dictatorships, one-party dictatorships, personalist dictatorships, or absolute monarchies.[2]
Photo: “When German Authorities sentenced a Resistance fighter to death, angry protests erupted. German soldiers fired bullets into the crowd of protesters, sending people running for their lives.” Århus, Denmark, August 26, 1943. National Museum of Denmark/The Danish Resistance Museum, via the Museum of Jewish Heritage, NYC exhibit “Courage to Act: Rescue in Denmark.“
