Dictatorship as a Phenomenon of Politics: The Main Milestones of Analysis
( Pp. 57-69)
More about authors
Zubov Vadim V.
Cand. Sci. (Hist.), Leading Researcher; associate professor, Department of Political Science, Faculty of Social Sciences and Mass Communications, associate professor, Department of Philosophy, Faculty of Social and Humanitarian Sciences; Bauman Moscow State Technical University; Moscow, Russian Federation
Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation
Moscow, Russian Federation;
Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation
Moscow, Russian Federation;
Abstract:
This publication is devoted to a theoretical and political appeal to the phenomenon of dictatorship through the prism of the history of political, legal and philosophical teachings from antiquity to modernity. The author denotes the problem of dictatorship in the ancient tradition, studies the peculiarities of the perception of dictatorship in medieval thought, analyzes the ideas about the dictatorship of the leading political theorists of the New Age, reveals the essence of dictatorship in the Marxist-Leninist paradigm, establishes the place of dictatorship in the research of right-wing political thinkers of the 20th century, turns to modern studies of dictatorship. As a result of the work carried out, a multifaceted palette of interpretations of dictatorship is being built: the power of the few owners of a reasonable soul who reproduce the virtue of wisdom and are aimed at achieving the common good; the permissible (or just) authority of an aristocracy or sole ruler other than tyranny; a form of power alien to the development of civil society; absolute, unlimited and not overthrown power of the Sovereign, who acquired his status as a result of a social contract; absolute despotic power unrelated to the law; despotism based on a position not supported by reason, according to which one subject is entitled to claim control over the rest of the people; the power of the economically dominant class; extraordinary temporary power, designed to preserve the existing legal and political order in a situation of threat, the prerogative of the bearer of sovereign power to perform any actions, including illegal ones, during an emergency; temporary granting of extensive powers in conditions of necessity to a subject whose power is deprived of transcendental, non-natural properties; a collection of undemocratic regimes characterized by limited or absent pluralism and allowing some variation in the specifics of political leadership, level of mobilization and ideologization; usurpation of power by one person, a group of military men, or a single political party. In conclusion, the conclusion is formulated that the perception of dictatorship is non-linear and does not depend on a particular stage in the development of political and philosophical thought.
How to Cite:
Zubov, V.V. (2026). Dictatorship as a phenomenon of politics: The main milestones of analysis. Sociopolitical Sciences, 16(2), 57–69. DOI: 10.33693/2223-0092-2026-16-2-57-69. EDN: OTZOXE
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Asmus V.F. History of ancient philosophy. Moscow: Higher School Publishing House, 1965. 320 p.
Bagaturia G.A. Sociopolitical concept of Marx and Engels. Moscow: Moscow University Publishing House, 2011.172 p. ISBN: 978-5-211-05857-6.
Bogomolov A.S. Antique philosophy. Moscow: Publishing House of Moscow University, 1985. 368 pp.
Hobbes T. Leviathan. Moscow: RIPOL Classic, 2016. 672 p.
Golbach P.A. Selected works in two volumes. Vol. 2. Moscow: Publishing House of Socio-Economic Literature, 1963. 563 p.
Golbach P.A. The system of nature, or On the laws of the physical world and the spiritual world. Moscow: State Publishing House, 1924. 578 p.
Zubov V.V. The world of political K. Schmitt. Sociopolitical Sciences. 2026. Vol. 16. No. 1. Pp. 15–22. (In Rus.). DOI: 10.33693/2223-0092-2026-16-1-15-22. EDN: LGCLVI.
Zubov V.V. Social contract: history and modernity. Sociopolitical Sciences. 2023. Vol. 13. No. 6. Pp. 31–40. (In Rus.). DOI: 10.33693/2223-0092-2023-13-6-31-40. EDN: AFFODE.
Zubov V.V. Freedom as a philosophical, legal and political category: The history of the issue. Gaps in Russian Legislation. 2022. Vol. 15. No. 3. Pp. 124–133. (In Rus.). EDN: QVWQKS.
Lenin V.I. Complete works. Ed. 5. Vol. 30. Moscow: Publishing House of Political Literature, 1973. 562 p.
Lenin V.I. Complete works. Ed. 5. Vol. 33. Moscow: Publishing House of Political Literature, 1969. 434 p.
Lokke J. Writings in three volumes. Vol. 3. Moscow: Thought, 1988. 668 p.
Marx K., Engels F. Works. Ed. 2. Vol. 19. Moscow: State Publishing House of Political Literature, 1961. 671 p.
Marx K., Engels F. Works. Ed. 2. Vol. 20. Moscow: State Publishing House of Political Literature, 1961. 828 p.
Marx K., Engels F. Works. Ed. 2. Vol. 7. Moscow: State Publishing House of Political Literature, 1956. 670 p.
Padua M. Defender of peace. Defensor pacis. Moscow: Dashkov & Co, 2014. 656 p. ISBN: 978-5-394-02334-7.
Paduanskiy M. State. Moscow: Academic Project, 2015. 398 p. ISBN: 978-5-8291-1671-2.
Sedykh N.N. The limits of power in the concept of the “Sovereign” by Thomas Hobbes. Education and Law. 2019. No. 4. Pp. 239–243. (In Rus.). EDN: AJSAXF.
Skirbekk G., Guillet N. History of philosophy. Moscow: VLADOS, 2008. 799 p. ISBN: 978-5-691-00393-6.
Filippov A.R. Axiomatic method of understanding the nature of human rights. Gaps in Russian Law. 2017. No. 3. Pp. 318–322. (In Rus.). EDN: YUBNTR.
Filippov A.R., Novikov O.G. Theoretical approaches to the study of public consent. Sociopolitical Sciences. 2023. Vol. 13. No. 5. Pp. 13–28. (In Rus.). DOI: 10.33693/2223-0092-2023-13-5-13-28. EDN: XXUJSY.
Schmitt K. Dictatorship. From the origins of the modern idea of sovereignty to the proletarian class struggle. St. Petersburg: Science, 2005. 326 p. ISBN: 5-02-026895-X.
Schmitt K. The concept of political. St. Petersburg: Science, 2016. 567 p. ISBN: 978-5-02-038400-2.
Evola Yu. Uprising against the modern world. Moscow: Totenburg, 2016. 476 p. ISBN: 978-5-00071-839-1.
Evola Yu. People and ruins. Moscow: Devastator, 2019. 296 p. ISBN: 978-5-289-01128-2.
Geddes B. Paradigms and sand castles. Theory building and research design in comparative politics. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2003. 313 p.
Linz J.J., Stepan A. Problems of democratic transition and consolidation. Southern Europe, South America, and Post-Communist Europe. Baltimore and London: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996. 480 p.
Keywords:
dictatorship, despotism, tyranny, Sovereign, state of emergency, aristocracy, transcendent power.
