What is a dictatorship?

The leader of a country has recently issued a law changing the names of the weekdays to honour him. Can a leader even do that? In this country, the leader doesn't have to get approval from any other politicians or from the people; he can issue laws like this easily. He has absolute power. This type of leader is called a dictator, and the political system in which a dictator has absolute power is a dictatorship.

Dictators often take power forcefully, sometimes by overthrowing the current government with the support of the military. Other times, they are appointed by someone, or inherit their position from a relative. Sometimes they are even elected. Because they have absolute power, dictators can do almost anything they want. It’s not surprising then, that dictators often act selfishly, and use their power to benefit themselves.

This dictator, for example, has been using public money to pay for private mansions and other luxuries for himself and his friends. This makes some citizens very angry. They want a new leader! But the dictator is determined to hold on to his power at all costs. He decides to make sure no one ever opposes him.

He orders the police to arrest anyone who speaks negatively about him. Others who question his power are threatened, some are even murdered. In this environment of fear, few people dare to say anything against their leader. It's not just individuals who are closely monitored by the dictatorship. The media, too, is under tight control.

Newspaper articles and television shows are carefully checked to ensure they do not go against the dictator or his beliefs. Any content found to be inappropriate is forcibly changed, or sometimes completely banned. It is censored. The media publishes only positive news about the dictator’s accomplishments. This manipulative type of messaging is called propaganda.

As a result of censorship and propaganda, many citizens do not fully realise that they are living under a dictatorship. Hmm, what’s happening here? The citizens are preparing to vote in an election. There are multiple political parties on the ballot. That sounds a lot like...

a democracy? Why don’t the citizens vote out the dictator? Holding elections is one way that dictators may try to appear democratic. However, this leader has blocked his opposition candidates from appearing on television and participating in political debates. It has been difficult for them to gain support.

And even if the opposition candidates earn votes in the election, the dictator’s party is planning to change the vote count so that it appears the dictator won. Electoral fraud is common in many dictatorships. In other dictatorships, there is only one party to vote for: the dictator’s party. Other parties have no chance to come to power. So in general, elections held in dictatorships are not fair.

What is the point of calling an election then? Elections are strategic for dictators. Studying the votes provides information about where their supporters and opponents live. And most importantly, an impressive vote total signals the strength and popularity of the government, both to its citizens and to the other countries around the world that oppose the leadership. In other words, it is a warning not to challenge the dictator’s power.

This is a fictional country, but today, about one third of the world's population lives in dictatorships. Some dictators throughout history have helped their citizens and improved their countries, and are considered benevolent dictators. However, history has also taught us that most dictators, even if they start out with a plan to help their country, grow more violent and oppressive as they seek to hold onto their power.