独裁

独裁(dictatorship)

一种由个人或寡头政治拥有绝对权力而无有效的宪法制约的政体形式。独裁政体和立宪民主制是今日全世界各国使用的两种主要的政体形式。在19世纪的拉丁美洲，一些不久以前脱离西班牙殖民统治的新国家中的有效的中央政权崩溃以後，各种各样的独裁者上台。这些领导人，或自封的领袖，通常是领导一支私人的军队，而且试图控制一个地区，然後向衰弱的全国政府进军。20世纪後期的拉丁美洲独裁者则是全国性的领导人而不是地区性的领导人，而且往往是由民族主义的军官们推他们上台执政的，例如阿根廷的庇隆。他们通常与某个特定的社会阶层联系在一起，而且试图或者维持富人和特权人士的利益，或者实行影响深远的左派社会改革。20世纪前半期欧洲的共产党和法西斯党的独裁，它们最重要的共同点就是把国家和一个唯一的群众政党视为一体，而且把政党同它的神奇领袖视为一体，利用一种官方的意识形态来维持政权和使之合法化，使用恐怖和宣传的手段压制不同意见和镇压反对派。殖民统治後的非洲和亚洲独裁者常常在发动军事政变後，以建立一党统治来稳固其权力。

English version：

dictatorship

Form of government in which one person or an oligarchy possesses absolute power without effective constitutional checks. With constitutional democracy, it is one of the two chief forms of government in use today. Modern dictators usually use force or fraud to gain power and then keep it through intimidation, terror, suppression of civil liberties, and control of the mass media. In 20th-century Latin America, nationalist leaders often achieved power through the military and attempted either to maintain the privileged elite or to institute far-reaching social reform, depending on their class sympathies. In Europe's communist and fascist dictatorships, a charismatic leader of a mass party used an official ideology to maintain his regime, and terror and propaganda to suppress opposition. In postcolonial Africa and Asia, dictators have often retained power by establishing one-party rule after a military takeover.