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A dictator is just someone with absolute power. How he got the power is orthogonal. He doesn’t have to gain power through insurrection or a revolution, he can g
by drexlspivey 2y ago
A dictator is just someone with absolute power. How he got the power is orthogonal. He doesn’t have to gain power through insurrection or a revolution, he can gain it inside a democratic system. In fact in Ancient Rome, where the term comes from, the Dictator was appointed by congress in times of crisis.
- worstspotgain 2y agoIndeed, dictators are dictators, including all those in your examples. In the cases I brought up, an elected leader can turn into a dictator by not leaving when they lose an election, canceling regular elections, faking the vote totals, etc. One Person, One Vote, One Time.
- dllthomas 2y ago> Dictator was appointed by congress in times of crisis. A dictator was appointed by a consul, at the direction of the Senate, with the job of solving a specific problem. The history of the dictatorship in ancient Rome, before Sulla, is really interesting, and differs quite a bit from the popular understanding: https://acoup.blog/2022/03/18/collections-the-roman-dictatorship-how-did-it-work-did-it-work https://acoup.blog/2022/03/18/collections-the-roman-dictator...