autocracy
n.
dictatorship, despotism, totalitarianism
Autocracy
autocracy
Noun
1. a political system governed by a single individual
(synonym) autarchy
(antonym) democracy, republic, commonwealth
(hypernym) political system, form of government
(hyponym) monarchy
2. a political theory favoring unlimited authority by a single individual
(hypernym) political orientation, ideology, political theory
(hyponym) Machiavellianism
Autocracy
(n.)
The action of the vital principle, or of the instinctive powers, toward the preservation of the individual; also, the vital principle.
(n.)
Supreme, uncontrolled, unlimited authority, or right of governing in a single person, as of an autocrat.
(n.)
Political independence or absolute sovereignty (of a state); autonomy.
(n.)
Independent or self-derived power; absolute or controlling authority; supremacy.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), edited by Noah Porter.
About
Autocracy
A system of government in which supreme political power to direct all the activities of the
state is concentrated in the hands of one person, whose decisions are subject to neither external legal restraints or nor regularized mechanisms of
popular control (except perhaps for the implicit threat of
coup d'etat or mass insurrection).
[See also:
dictatorship ,
totalitarianism ,
fascism ]