Category:Dictators

This category is a parent category for dictators. Articles should go in one of the subcategories, but not here.

A Dictator in modern usage refers to a leader or ruler of a country who has assumed sole and abolute power, but typically is not of a hereditary ascension as is found in a monarchy. (There arguable exceptions to this rule; both North Korea and Syria saw dictators in the mid 20th Century who took steps to insure their respective sons were their successors.) Generally, the dictator has an incredible amount of personal power without any substantive check or balance. This can even occur in an ostensible representative democracy, with the dictator standing for elections that have been rigged in their favor. Dictatorships can arise and function in a variety of political and economic systems on both the "left" and the "right" of the political system.

The original concept came from a title created in the Roman Republic for a magistrate who would be given absolute power in times of emergency. It was not intended as a lifetime office, nor was it seen at the time seen as a negative concept. Only in the 20th Century has dictatorship come to be associated with repressive regimes.

Most dicators hold the office of the head of state of their country, but not always. Benito Mussolini was the Prime Minister of Italy from 1922-1943, and is generally considered to have been a dictator.