Despotism

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:

    “The despotism of custom is everywhere the standing hindrance to human advancement.”
    —John Stuart Mill (1806–1873)

    “The whole commerce between master and slave is a perpetual exercise of the most boisterous passions, the most unremitting despotism on the one part, and degrading submissions on the other. Our children see this, and learn to imitate it.”
    —Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)