Dictatorship

"[The Galactic Senate of the Republic] will be made to [resolve its differences].''" "By whom?" "Someone wise." "That sounds an awful lot like a dictatorship to me." "''Well, if it works&hellip;"

- Anakin Skywalker and Padmé Amidala

Dictatorship was a form of government in which the ruler possessed absolute power and absolute authority, in contrast with democracy.

Under the leadership of Supreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine, the parliamentary Galactic Republic slowly turned into a dictatorship as the Chancellor used the Clone Wars as a pretext to amend the constitution and accrue more executive power. At the end of the conflict, the Republic was finally replaced by a genuine dictatorship, the First Galactic Empire. Other known dictatorial regimes included Hay-Zu's leadership over his fellow Patitites, and the rule of the so-called Albee Dewaw&mdash;actually a cabal of DUM-series pit droids&mdash;over the Balnab.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones
 * Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope
 * Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back
 * Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi