North Korea’s constitution describes its government as an “independent socialist
state”, however, many other sources, including the CIA World Factbook, list North Korea as
a “one-man dictatorship”.
So, what is a dictatorship?
And how many countries are still run by dictators?
A dictatorship is a form of authoritarian government in which complete power over the
people and state is held by one person or one political entity.
The word is often used interchangeably with terms like “tyranny”, “monarchy”,
“totalitarianism”, “autocracy”, “despotism”, and even sometimes with words like “republic”
and “democracy”.
For example, North Korea’s full title is the “Democratic People’s Republic of North
Korea”.
Modern dictatorships hardly ever refer to themselves as such.
Often, they will assume the mask of a democracy, complete with phony elections, in order to
give legitimacy to their rule.
Just look at the recent “elections” in Zimbabwe and Syria for example.
Once in power, dictators protect their station with military action, restrictions on personal
freedoms, propaganda and even state-sponsored terrorism.
Hallmark signs of an authoritarian regime include: state-controlled media, rampant corruption
and cronyism, and a sizeable gap between the wealthy elite and the poor.
Often, the loose term of “dictatorship” is applied to any country where civil liberties
are suppressed, and all the power is concentrated on one leader or a single political unit.
How many of these dictatorships exist in the world?
It’s hard to say.
The majority of national governments operate on a spectrum between “constitutional democracies”,
like the United States, and complete dictatorships, like North Korea.
There are many nations that fall in between.
However, the Economist Intelligence Unit estimates that as of 2014, 52 countries are ruled by
authoritarian regimes.
Places like China, Cuba, Russia, Syria and Zimbabwe are on this list.
And there are many more.
Unfortunately, dictatorships grew stronger in 2014, according to a watchdog organization,
Freedom House.
Their report, released in 2015, notes that more than half of the world’s countries
are considered “partly free” or “not free”, and there was an overall decline
in “global political rights and civil liberties” last year.
However, there are also studies that show most people want a government with democratic
values.
In the future, trends towards globalization, higher education, and a growing middle class
may be the key to eliminating authoritarian governments once
and for all.