The Terrible Beauty of Dictatorship

In 2016, Donald Trump was elected US President. Many across the globe are concerned he plans to institute a dictatorship, which is supposedly contrary to liberal–democratic values. Yet, despite current public opinion, republics like the US regularly resort to dictatorship, while a need for dictatorship has been recognized by prominent republican thinkers. This study presents the ‘hidden history’ of dictatorship, analyzes justifications for dictatorship, and proposes a theory of the institution. You will read a paradoxical tale, describing how the quest for absolute freedom is also bound up with bouts of tyranny.