Dictatorship
A dictatorship is a government ruled by a single leader or dictator with absolute power and control. The root word "dictate" means to give orders. A dictatorship is usually a totalitarian government which means that the government has total control over all aspects of society including education, the media, the military and the police.
A dictator usually surrounds himself with a group of followers and together they try to control the people and what they believe. A dictator is someone who isn't elected but comes to power by force and usually with the help of the military. When a dictator has overthrown the previous leader this is called a coup.
Dictatorships place total power in the hands of one person who comes to power through a coup. Famous historical examples of dictatorships include Joseph Stalin who ruled over the USSR with an iron fist, Adolph Hitler of Germany who with the help of his army led one of the world's worst genocides called the Holocaust, Saddam Hussein who ruled Iraq by playing favorites with his people and using chemical weapons against those who criticized him, and Muammar Gaddafi of Libya who ruled so harshly that his own people rebelled against him and killed him.