dictator

(noun)

During Caesar's time, in the late Roman Republic, ruler for life. In the early Republic, by contrast, a dictator was a general appointed by the Senate who served temporarily during a national emergency.

Related Terms

Examples of dictator in the following topics:

  • Forkability

    • This may seem like a surprising claim, considering how common it is to hear someone called the "dictator" (sometimes softened to "benevolent dictator") in a given open source project.
    • The dictator has no magical hold over the project.
    • Except, of course, that things rarely get that far, because the dictator compromises first.
    • Generally, benevolent dictators do not actually make all the decisions, or even most of the decisions.
    • Therefore, benevolent dictators commonly do not dictate much.

  • Who Can Be a Good Benevolent Dictator?

    • It is common for the benevolent dictator to be a founder of the project, but this is more a correlation than a cause.
    • Because of forkability, it does not matter whether the benevolent dictator has control over the currently accepted "master" project repository.
    • Whether your project should have a benevolent dictator, or would run better with some less centralized form of governance, largely depends on who is available to fill the role.

  • Julius Caesar

    • Julius Caesar was a Late Republic statesman and general who waged civil war against the Roman Senate, defeating many patrician conservatives before he declared himself dictator.
    • He centralized the bureaucracy of the Republic and eventually proclaimed himself "dictator in perpetuity".
    • It is important to note that Caesar did not declare himself rex, king, but instead, claimed the title of dictator.
    • Contrary to the negative connotations that the modern use of the word evokes, the Roman dictator was appointed by the Senate during times of emergency as a unilateral decision-maker who could act more quickly than the usual bureaucratic processes of the Republican government would allow.
    • Upon bringing the Roman state out of trouble, the dictator would then resign and restore power back to the Senate.

  • Social Context for Learning

    • These symbol systems dictate how and what is learned.

  • Folkways and Mores

    • Folkways and mores are informal norms that dictate behavior; however, the violation of mores carries heavier consequences.
    • In comparison to the morality of mores, folkways dictate what could be considered either polite or rude behavior.

  • The Role of the Federal Budget

    • The federal budget dictates how much money the government plans to raise and how it plans to spend it in the upcoming year.
    • It dictates which programs will receive funding and how much money the government will spend on each.

  • Culture-Specific Nuances of Decision-Making

    • The following factors are common considerations that dictate nuanced deviation in cultures as it pertains to decision-making:
    • The antithesis is essentially 'counter-culture' culture, which dictates the opposite decision-making influence.
    • Tolerance for Ambiguity - A high tolerance for ambiguity or risk taking is 'counter-culture' culture, which dictates a high level of tolerance for going against the grain.

  • Political Party Leader

    • The president is largely responsible for dictating the legislative agenda of his political party.
    • Since the founding of the United States, the power of the president and the federal government have grown substantially, and each modern president, despite possessing no formal legislative powers beyond signing or vetoing congressionally passed bills, is largely responsible for dictating the legislative agenda of his party and the foreign and domestic policy of the United States .

  • Private Patronage

    • While the contemporary emphasis on artistic freedom generally dictates that the specifics of an artwork be left up to the artist, patrons, in the past, would dictate materials, style, and subjects of works of art.

  • Limitation of Microbial Growth by Nutrient Supply

    • The availability of specific nutrients dictates organismal growth by controlling and limiting activation of cellular and metabolic pathways necessary for progress.
    • In industrial microbiology this concept is critical, as microbial growth and production is dictated by proper cellular growth and metabolism.