Despotism
Despotism is a form of government in which a single entity rules with absolute power. That entity may be an individual, as in an autocracy, or it may be a group, as in an oligarchy. The word despotism means to "rule in the fashion of a despot" and does not necessarily require a singular "despot", an individual.
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Famous quotes containing the word despotism:
“Man is insatiable for power; he is infantile in his desires and, always discontented with what he has, loves only what he has not. People complain of the despotism of princes; they ought to complain of the despotism of man.”
—Joseph De Maistre (1753–1821)
“We are not to expect to be translated from despotism to liberty, in a feather-bed.”
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)
“The despotism of custom is everywhere the standing hindrance to human advancement.”
—John Stuart Mill (1806–1873)