The benevolent dictator is a more modern version of the classical "enlightened despot", being an undemocratic or authoritarian leader who exercises his or her political power for the benefit of the people rather than exclusively for his or her own self-interest or benefit, or for the benefit of only a small portion of the people. A benevolent dictator, for example, may focus government priorities on matters of public importance, such as healthcare, education, or general city infrastructure. They may be committed to peaceful relations, rather than wars or invasions of other states. He may even allow for some democratic decision-making to exist, such as through public referendums. enlightened desportism is the act when a prist lies in order to become better in the eyes of the churchEnlightened absolutism (also known as benevolent or enlightened despotism) is a form of despotism in which rulers were influenced by the Enlightenment, a historical period. ... The term authoritarian is used to describe an organization or a state which enforces strong and sometimes oppressive measures against the population, generally without attempts at gaining the consent of the population. ... Health care or healthcare is one of the worlds largest and fastest growing professions. ... A peace dove, widely known as a symbol for peace, featuring an olive branch in the doves beak. ... Elections Part of the Politics series Politics Portal This box:      A referendum (plural: referendums or referenda) or plebiscite (from Latin plebiscita, originally a decree of the Concilium Plebis) is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. ...

Origins and Characteristics

The concept of the benevolent dictator originates with Plato in The Republic [1], a speculation on the ideal society. Plato divides the populace into classes. Those in the governing class are the "Philosopher kings", who wield almost complete authority on the assumption that they are completely motivated by the best interests of the society. PLATO was one of the first generalized Computer assisted instruction systems, originally built by the University of Illinois (U of I) and later taken over by Control Data Corporation (CDC), who provided the machines it ran on. ... The Republic (Greek: ) is an influential work of philosophy and political theory by the Greek philosopher Plato, written in approximately 360 BC. It is written in the format of a Socratic dialogue. ... Philosopher-kings are the hypothetical rulers of Platos utopian Kallipolis. ...

Most dictators' regimes unfailingly portray themselves as benevolent, and often tend to regard democratic regimes as messy, inefficient, and corrupt. Additionally, many dictators may attempt to openly spread misinformation about their benevolence in an attempt to create a personality cult. Adolf Hitler built a strong cult of personality, based on the Führerprinzip. ...

Like many political classifications, the title of benevolent dictator suffers from its inherent subjectivity. Such leaders as Chiang Kai-Shek, António de Oliveira Salazar ,Adolf Hitler, Alexander the Great, Ioannis Metaxas, Lee Kuan Yew, Jerry Rawlings, Stalin, Getúlio Vargas, Benito Mussolini, Julius Caesar, Oliver Cromwell, Augusto Pinochet, Abdul Razak,Napoleon Bonaparte, Saddam Hussein, Francisco Franco, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, Kenneth Kaunda, Anwar Sadat, António de Oliveira Salazar, Juan Perón, Fidel Castro, Park Chung Hee, Kaiser Wilhelm II, James Pepoon and Edward Gierek have been characterized by their supporters as benevolent dictators ^{[citation needed]}. In all these cases it depends largely on one's point of view as to just how "benevolent" they were or are. In many cases dictators who serve in office for a very lengthy period are more likely to be regarded as benevolent, for the simple reason that they will often be forced to pay some attention to the public's interests in order to remain in power, and more importantly, be regarded as politically legitimate. Dictators who hold office for a brief period of time, or are simply members of a rotating dictatorial elite (for example see the Generals) may have less charismatic authority and prove to be forgettable and easier to demonize. Chiang Kai-shek (October 31, 1887 – April 5, 1975) was the Chinese military and political leader who assumed the leadership of the Kuomintang (KMT) after the death of Sun Yat-sen in 1925. ... António de Oliveira Salazar, pron. ... Hitler redirects here. ... For the film of the same name, see Alexander the Great (1956 film). ... Ioannis Metaxas (Greek Ιωάννης Μεταξάς, April 12, 1871 – January 29, 1941) was a Greek General and the Prime Minister of Greece from 1936 until his death in 1941. ... This is a Chinese name; the family name is 李 (Li) Lee Kuan Yew, GCMG, CH (Chinese: ; Pinyin: ; born September 16, 1923; also spelled Lee Kwan-Yew), was the first Prime Minister of the Republic of Singapore from 1959 to 1990. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Iosif (usually anglicized as Joseph) Vissarionovich Stalin (Russian: Иосиф Виссарионович Сталин), original name Ioseb Jughashvili (Georgian: იოსებ ჯუღაშვი&#4314... Getúlio Dornelles Vargas (pron. ... “Mussolini” redirects here. ... For other uses, see Julius Caesar (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Oliver Cromwell (disambiguation). ... Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte[1] (November 25, 1915 – December 10, 2006) was President of Chile from 1974 to 1990, as well as head of the government junta from 1973 to 1974. ... Tun Abdul Razak bin Haji Dato Hussein Al-Haj (March 11, 1922-January 14, 1976) was the second Prime Minister of Malaysia, ruling from 1970 to 1976. ... Napoléon I, Emperor of the French (born Napoleone di Buonaparte, changed his name to Napoléon Bonaparte)[1] (15 August 1769; Ajaccio, Corsica – 5 May 1821; Saint Helena) was a general during the French Revolution, the ruler of France as First Consul (Premier Consul) of the French Republic from... Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti (28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was the fifth President of Iraq and Chairman of the Iraqi Revolutionary Command Council from 1979 until his overthrow by US forces in 2003. ... “Franco” redirects here. ... “Mustafa Kemal” redirects here. ... Kenneth David Kaunda, commonly known as KK (born April 28, 1924) served as the first President of Zambia, from 1964 to 1991. ... Muhammad Anwar Al-Sadat (محمد أنورالسادات in Arabic) (December 25, 1918 – October 6, 1981) was an Egyptian politician and served as the third President of Egypt from September 28, 1970 until his assassination on October 6, 1981. ... António de Oliveira Salazar, pron. ... Juan Domingo Perón (October 8, 1895 – July 1, 1974) was an Argentine general and politician, elected three times as President of Argentina and serving from 1946 to 1955 and from 1973 to 1974. ... Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (born on August 13, 1926) is the current President of Cuba but on indefinite medical hiatus. ... Park Chung-hee (November 14, 1917 – October 26, 1979) was former ROK Army general and the president of the Republic of Korea from 1961 to 1979. ... William II or Wilhelm II (born Prinz Friedrich Wilhelm Albert Viktor von Preußen; English: Prince Frederick William Albert Victor of Prussia) (27 January 1859–4 June 1941) was the last German Emperor and King of Prussia (German: Deutscher Kaiser und König von Preußen), ruling both the German... Edward Gierek Edward Gierek (January 6, 1913 - July 29, 2001) was a Polish Communist leader. ... Legitimacy is the popular acceptance of a governing regime or law. ... The Generals is a common nickname that is often applied to the rulers of a military dictatorship as in a Junta. ... Jesus is considered by historians such as Weber to be an example of a charismatic religious leader; The sociologist Max Weber defined charismatic authority as resting on devotion to the exceptional sanctity, heroism or exemplary character of an individual person, and of the normative patterns or order revealed or ordained...

In the Spanish language, the word dictablanda is sometimes used for a dictatorship conserving some of the liberties and mechanisms of democracy. (The pun is that, in Spanish, dictadura is "dictatorship", dura is "hard" and blanda is "soft"). Dictablanda is a word used by political scientists to describe a dictatorship in which civil liberties are mostly preserved rather than destroyed. ...

Living Benevolent Dictators

In the context of open source projects, a "benevolent dictator" is the person who controls every aspect of that project and the project members recognize him as benevolent. The term is used humorously, mainly because the dictators are almost always software engineers of (yet?) unknown dynasties. As the copyright holder to key parts of th code, the dictator can not be outset. When a project dictator is disappointing his community, e.g. transferring his right, he will lose his "benevolent" status and his project will shrink. Open source refers to projects that are open to the public and which draw on other projects that are freely available to the general public. ...

Jimbo Wales has been characterized as a "benevolent dictator" of Wikipedia by other people, including participants in the project. However, he himself rejects that description of his rôle, preferring that he be regarded as a constitutional monarch, and that notion has been accepted by some of the community and achieved a measure of stability. However, given that the use of "benevolent dictator" within virtual communities is the norm, the association of that with Wales will never fully disappear.^[1] Jimmy Wales in Paris, France Jimmy Donal Jimbo Wales (born August 7, 1966) is the co-founder of Wikipedia. ... Wikipedia (IPA: , or ( ) is a multilingual, web-based, free content encyclopedia project, operated by the Wikimedia Foundation, a non-profit organization. ... Forms of government Part of the Politics series Politics Portal This box:      A constitutional monarchy is a form of government established under a constitutional system which acknowledges an elected or hereditary monarch as head of state, as opposed to an absolute monarchy, where the monarch is not bound by a...

See also

• Head of state
• Dictator
• Benevolent Dictator for Life

For the comedy film of the same name, see Head of State (film). ... A dictator is an absolutist or autocratic ruler who assumes sole power over the state, though the term is normally not applied to an absolute monarch. ... A Benevolent Dictator for Life (BDFL) is the most common and least formal title given to a lead member of a free or open source project. ...

References

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Further reading

• Producing Open Source Software: Benevolent Dictators.