Dictatorship

 

 

 

 

Katie Felton

 

 

March 25, 2005

 

 

Period 3

 

 

 

 

                                              


According to Webster’s dictionary the definition of dictatorship is a system of government in which one person or small group of people have absolute control. These governments are also known as unlimited rule, totalitarian governments or fascist government. Rulers of a dictatorial government or dictators, are not restricted by constitution, laws, or recognized opposition. Dictators are a threat and problem to our world. Because dictatorial governments have no laws to restrict them they are a huge threat that kills hundreds to millions of people in a life time and they need to be stopped.

 

Dictatorial governments go back in history for many years. The first dictatorial governments came from aristocracy. Kings would become power hungry when this happens the king becomes a dictator. Some of the most famous dictators are Francisco Franco, Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Mao Zedong, Fidel Castro and Saddam Hussein. (Green, pg.8)  History has shown us that many of these famous dictators had many things that were similar in the way that they ran their country and the things that they did while in power. All of these dictators used their armed forces to protect them from foreign enemies and their people. (www.thedictatorship.com)  Also they all came into power and changed the government. Franco made Spain a Fascist government. Hitler turned Germany into a totalitarian government as well as Stalin to the Soviet Union. Mao, Castro and Hussein all converted their governments to communists. (Green, pg.8-10) All these dictators had complete control over their people until the people got fed up with the laws and revolted. These six dictators came out of office through death or they were overthrown by their people. Through history we have learned very much about dictatorial governments and their dictators.

The reason why dictatorial governments are so dangerous and a threat to the world are that the rulers are not restricted by any laws or constitutions. Also most dictators are racist and often anti-semitic and they act upon their emotions which cause them to kill. Dictators kill many people and violate many things that restrict the people of their country. From 1900 to 1987 these governments murdered 170 million people. That is over 4 times the number of battle-deaths during the same period. Alone Hitler killed 6.5 million people and Stalin killed more of his own people than those that were killed by foreign invaders during World War I. (Green, pg. 9) Dictatorial governments use ruthless force to show their control over all the people in their society. These governments most of the time have harsh controls over personal elements such as a person’s family, friends, education, religion, work, sexuality, and leisure times as well as some forms of their freewill and artistic expression. (www.pearlfilms.com/totalitarian.htm) Part of the harshness of dictatorial governments is that they have no judicial rights or recourse. (www.pearlfilms.com/totalitarian.htm) Many times innocent people are forced into confessing to imaginary crimes and once they have confessed they are put to death. Not only do these governments treat their own people terribly but foreign enemies. If one of their enemies is caught they will either execute them or put them in forced labor camps. The people of dictatorial governments have no rights at all. These forms of government use propaganda to gain power and control. As well as propaganda dictators censor sources of information such as newspapers, books, radios and TVs and prohibit freedom of speech and assembly. (Ellis, pg.706) Dictatorial governments are a world problem because they kill and torture many people and they take away their citizens rights.

Today dictatorships are a big problem. Although there are not as many dictatorships now than there used to be, they still pose a threat to the world.  There are dictatorial governments in three out of the seven continents are South America, Europe and Asia. More specifically the countries with a type of dictatorial government are China, Cuba, Tibet and Burma. Currently, the Chinese government is look for some one to be the next dictator. The dictator is handpicking who he wants to run the country of 1.3 billion people with a small group of his party members. This is bad and wrong because he will choose somebody that he knows will be harsh and that will not let the people try to overrun them. It is also unjust because the people do not get a say in who they want to be their next leader. (http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/edit/archives/2002/09/13/167877) Fidel Castro is still the leader of Cuba to this very day. Because of this long standing leader Cuba is in ruins because all Castro cares about are himself and his world goals. (http://www-hoover.stanford.edu/publications/digest/014/ratliff.html) The Burmese government is run by the military and they are very brutal. (http://www.classbrain.com/art_cr/publish/burma_government.shtml)  Tibet for a long time was run by the Chinese government. The Chinese sent the Dalai Lama and 85,000 Tibetans into exile. The people in exile are trying to set up a democracy but those in the country are still under dictatorial rule, although most have fled Tibet and are now refugees. (http://www.tibet.com/Govt/) Dictatorships are still a problem in the world and although there used to be many more they are still a danger in the world today. Dictatorships are still one of the world’s unsolved problems.

 

 

Dictatorship is a long and complicated form of government. Dictatorships are cruel and unjust. Dictatorships usually come out from a period of chaos and poverty in the country. A strong leader will step up and promise the public support and food. These leaders then win the support of the citizens. Once these leaders are in power they take advantage of the people and make harsh and restricting laws. Most of the time the majority of the people in that country get tricked into electing a dictatorial government.(Green, pg.8) Dictatorial governments are usually propelled by pretext ideologies, national security, mass fear, and or some type of “common good” objective. (www.pearlfilms.com/totalitarian.htm)  Dictators of countries are distrustful, suspicious and paranoid. Some times dictators are so paranoid and protective of their power that many of them have a secret police force that watch their own countrymen. (Green, pg.8) These secret police look for a deviation from life set by the dictator. Unlimited rule governments are unjust because they give there people no rights and the do everything behind the back of the public. Dictatorships usually end when the people finally realize they are being taken advantage of and they revolt against the government. Afraid for their power coming to and end the governments try to make the laws harsher. In so cases this works but in others it makes the people come together more and rally to over throw the government. (Green, pg.8) They are sleazy in the way that they run their government. Unlimited rule governments are corrupt and wrong in the way that they treat their people, way that they run their country, and interact with the rest of the world. Dictatorial governments are a menace to the world. They often times pose threats on other countries and want to start wars with them went it is not called for.

A reasonable solution to stop dictatorships in a non violent way would be hard because these types of governments are brutal and like to pick fights with other countries. The most reasonable solution I can think of is to have the U.N. regulate the dictators and their government to make sure that they are not committing acts of genocide or have to harsh of laws. The more and more the U.N. visited these nations the more that they would restrict the governments on what they could do until the government became a republic or even a democracy. This resolution would probably be hard to carry out because dictators wouldn’t want someone telling them how to run their government and they probably don’t want someone visiting the country every month. Some dictatorial governments are not even in the U.N.  However the U.N. and the country could make a treaty stating that if the U.N. regulates the government for and year and approves while the governments cleans up a bit, the U.N. will not regulate for the next five years with the exceptions of if a threat is made by that country, a war brakes out in that country or the government does not improve or any other types of emergency situations. I think this plan may take a long to happen but it could be possible. The biggest problem would be getting the dictatorships to agree with the treaty. If this plan was implicated and everything worked as planned there would be the change of no more dictatorships in the world and less threats. Without dictatorship there would be a greater change at achieving world peace for a while. This plan would influence the lives of many people hopefully in a good way. This plan would take hard work and long hours but in the end it would all be worth it in the end. Dictators are a threat and problem to our world, because they have no laws to restrict them and they kill hundreds to millions of people in but with my plan this could all be stopped.


It is estimated that there will be no more dictatorships by the year 2025.(McConnel, 14 Feb. 2005) In my opinion I think that it will take a little longer for dictatorships to completely go away. I do however believe that the end of dictatorships will come before the end of the next millennium. It will be a long process for all the types of dictatorship to disappear but, I they go one by one it will happen sooner than we realize. Dictatorships are almost like a fad and in the future some countries will realize that having a dictatorial government is not the fad.  To end the rest of the dictatorship we might have to fight. There is no way of knowing if we will have to fight against the dictators to give up their power, it the people will rally against the government or if it will just fizzle away by itself. Hopefully this revelation will come quickly though so the younger generation will not have to deal with the effects it will have on the rest of the world. If the end of dictatorships comes from a fight the world may be chaotic for a while. I am glad that there is a beckon of hope that this threat will soon come to an end. With dictatorships out of our hair we con focus on other problems such as finding a cure for aids or saving the rainforests for deforestation. If dictatorships were gone I feel  that there probably would not be as many wars and all of the world leaders could breathe a little easier knowing that dictators can no longer threaten them. No one truly knows what the future holds in store for the world but I certainly hope that dictatorships are eliminated and there is more peace. I hope that once dictatorship is out of our world that is doesn’t come back in later years, but I don’t think it will because the people of dictatorship of now would have had a taste of freedom and they would probably want to keep the freedoms that they have. I do believe that dictatorships will be eliminated and the world will be a better place because of it. 


Works Cited

BurmaClassbrain 15Mar. 2005                                     www.classbrain.com/art_cr/public/burma_government.shtml

“dictatorship.” The Dictatorship. 28 Feb. 2005 www.thedictatorship.com

Ellis, Elizabeth G. and Anthony Esler. World History: Connections to Today. Upper     Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 1999.

Green, Robert.  Dictators. San Diego: Lucent Books Inc., 2000.

Khan, Muqtedar. “Have Iraqis voted for a Dictatorship?” Pakistan Daily Times eastern ed. 1 Mar.2005 www.smirkingchimp.com/article.php?sid=19898&mode=nested&order=0

McConnel, Scott. “Hunger for Dictatorship. “Hunger for Dictatorship.” The American Conservative 14 Feb. 2005. 1 Mr. 2005 www.amconmag.com/2005_02_14/print/articalprint.html

“Pontecorvo: The Dictatorship of Truth” Curtis, Oliver. 1992. run time 37 mins. Documentary

Ratliff, William. Cuba: Semper Fidel. Hoover Digest. 15 Mar. 2005.  http://www-hoover.stanford.edu/publications/digest/014/ratliff.html

Tibetan Government in Exile The Government of Tibet in Exile. 14 Mar. 2005. http://www.tibet.com/Govt/

“Totalitarianism.” Pearl Films. 1 Mar. 2005. www.pearlfilms.com/totalitarian.htm

Hosted by www.Geocities.ws

1