Presumably, the best-known markers of a dictatorship are a personality cult and the systematic oppression of human liberties in a certain state. A combination of the two results in the lack of the possibility for the citizens to “change their rulers peacefully,” which Dent (2005) indicates in his dictionary (p. 150). A noteworthy nuance is that such a situation not necessarily presupposes a direct use of force methods since they can be relatively easy to oppose.
Rather, dictators begin so-called informational war, which lies in excluding any alternative opinions from the media, political discourse, and frequently even education to narrow people’s mind to the maximal possible degree. A bright illustration is present in the movie The Perfect Dictatorship by Luis Estrada. The onscreen state leader, in fact, turns the media into his personal PR department, so that the population simply have no idea for whom else they could vote (Estrada, 2014). Dent (2005) gives Pinochet with his non-pluralistic approach, which targeted to eliminate left-wing parties from the political discourse of Chile, as another example. Both works, therefore, define dictatorship as a usurpation of power by destroying opposition and, consequently, leaving the citizens with no alternatives.
Along with the above, the movie and the dictionary have partly dissimilar focuses. Dent’s (2005) perspective, notably, covers the behavior of rulers and policymakers as the central topic. Meanwhile, Estrada apparently seeks to show how other social institutes, such as media, can contribute to the establishment of a dictatorship (Garcia Medina, 2021). His movie makes it clear that the responsibility for the crimes of the regime is not exclusively on the governor, but on everybody who supports him as well.
References
Dent, D. W. (2005). Historical dictionary of U.S. – Latin American relations. Greenwood Press.
Estrada, L. (2014). The perfect dictatorship [Film]. Bandidos Films.
Garcia Medina, I. M. (2021). Las Movies: “The Perfect Dictatorship” and weaponizing the media to retain power. El American.