Ancient Tyranny and Modern Dictatorship

Abstract

I trace the conceptual history of key terms used to describe and criticize bad political regimes, focusing on the displacement of "tyranny" by "dictatorship" and "authoritarianism". While classical Greek thought understood tyranny primarily in terms of the character of rulers, the modern idea of dictatorship emerged from a Roman conceptual framework that focused on authority and its legitimation. I show how new problems of legitimation in the 18th and 19th centuries diminished the utility of the character-centric concept of tyranny and increased the fruitfulness of dictatorship for political analysis. The emergence of the modern state in the 19th century shaped the conceptual field by increasing the salience of problems concerning the appropriation or usurpation of sovereignty, the distortion of popular legitimation and accountability, and the incentives for submission to illegitimate orders. I conclude that "authoritarianism" is likely to increase in prominence, but that retaining multiple regime concepts enriches analysis.

Keywords: History of Political Thought, Dictatorship, Tyranny, Authoritarianism