THE MAIN CHARACTERISTICS OF DICTATORSHIP: THE FEATURES OF DICTATORIAL REGIMES, THEIR GOVERNANCE METHODS, AND CONTROL MECHANISMS

Аннотация

Dictatorship is one of the political regimes widely used around the world and continues to be relevant today. The main characteristic of this political regime is that citizens' rights and freedoms are restricted under the rule of one or several individuals (dictators). Various forms of dictatorship, such as totalitarianism, authoritarianism, and militarism, exist, each with itsown uniquecharacteristics and differing impacts and socio-economic consequences. Keywords:dictatorship, totalitarianism, authoritarianism, militarism, non-democratic, media, democratic, collectivization,corporatism, repression, sympathy, opposition. Throughout human history, dictatorship has been the most dangerous political regime, causing numerous casualties. Dictatorship (from Latin: dictatura — unlimited power) refers to a system of government implemented through non-democratic means, characterized as either authoritarian or totalitarian. In a political regime based on dictatorship, power is centralized in the hands of one individual — the dictator — or a small group of individuals, where violence and terror in politics are heightened. The establishment of a dictatorship is marked by the lack of checks on dictatorial power, the violation of democratic rights and freedoms proclaimed by the constitution, and the restriction of the rights of representative bodies. Power relies directly on violence. This principlehas led to thedeaths of millions. Historically, dictatorship has evolved over time, originating in Ancient Rome and transforming its characteristics over centuries. Particularly in the 20th century, this political regime took on one of the most dangerous forms in human history. Several dictators contributed to this. One notable example is Francisco Franco's dictatorship in Spain, which lasted from 1939 to 1975. Franco established his rule based on an ideology called "national-syndicalism," which included nationalism, Catholicism, and corporatism. Despite implementing numerous reforms, Franco's policies were often detrimental to citizens,leading to social inequality and repression. Similar processes were observed in the dictatorships of I. Stalin, A. Hitler, and M. Szewdun during the 20th century. These dictators sacrificed countless lives to maintain their power and implement reforms, leading scholars to classify them as classic dictators. In contrast, a new category of dictators emerged in the 21st century with entirely different characteristics. These so- called manipulative dictators employ new techniques centered around information manipulation, artificially creating sympathy amongthepopulace, and superficially mimicking democracy. page621 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE ISSN:2692-5206,ImpactFactor:12,23 AmericanAcademicpublishers,volume05,issue02,2025 Journal: https://www.academicpublishers.org/journals/index.php/ijai The core reason for governing under these principles is that "people tend to believe in appearances rather than reality; a ruler does not need to possess all good qualities but must seem to have them." Manipulative dictators must convince the public and draw them to their side regardless of the means. This is the primary goal of manipulative dictators. The first of this type was Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, followed by manipulative dictators like V. Putin inRussiaand N. Nazarbayev in Kazakhstan. Due to globalization in our time, the 21st century has seen a shift towards this new form of dictatorship based on information manipulation, reaching its peak today.There are several regimes of dictatorship, each with its own unique characteristics. Among the most widely used are totalitarianism, authoritarianism, and militarism. Despite the common features of these regimes, there are also several differences. Totalitarianism is a political governance form characterized by centralized power that penetrates all spheres of social, economic, and spiritual life, bringing themunder complete control. OneoftheGerman scholars expressed themain characteristics oftotalitarianism as follows: Thedominance ofatotalitarian ideology; Theexistence ofa singleparty, usually led byanindividual loyal to thisideology; A well-developed secret police system; Complete control of the state over the media, all economic, social, and cultural institutions, and instruments ofviolence. These characteristics of totalitarianism lead to the violation of human rights and the restriction of freedom of thought and expression. These governance systems often have a profound impact on people's lives and create an atmosphere of fear in society. Such processes were notably observed in I. Stalin's USSR and A. Hitler's Nazi Germany. The reason is that I. Stalinstrengthened the autocraticregime andhalted theNew EconomicPolicy (NEP), which had started in 1921, in the mid-1920s, subsequently initiating a rapid industrialization and forced collectivization policy in agriculture. A. Hitler's primary goal of the totalitarian regime was