Caesarism

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A system of government in which power is concentrated in the hands of a single dictatorial figure who rules with absolute authority
2. Rule by a dominating individual who wields dictatorial power over the state and its people, typically without constitutional restraints
3. Government under the control of an autocratic leader who exercises supreme power, often drawing comparison to the Roman emperor Caesar

Etymology: The name of the Roman dictator Julius Caesar was turned into a political term almost two thousand years after his death. "Caesarism" is built from "Caesar" plus the suffix "-ism", and it describes rule by a single strongman who holds power outside or above ordinary constitutional checks, often justified by appeals to the people. The pattern is named for Caesar because he is the classic example: a military commander who used popular support to dominate the Roman Republic. The word is also a piecewise doublet of "tsarism", the system of autocratic rule in Russia, which goes back to the title "tsar", itself derived from "Caesar". The two words therefore share an ancestor in the same personal name, one reaching English through Latin and the other through Slavic languages, so the imperial title that gave Russia its rulers ended up sitting beside the Roman name in the vocabulary of politics.

Synonyms: despotism, autocracy, dictatorship

Antonyms: democracy, republicanism