Tyranny
Tyranny is cruel or unfair rule, usually by a ruler or group that holds too much power.
Montesquieu
In The Spirit of the Laws (1748), Montesquieu warned that liberty is lost when the same monarch or senate both makes and carries out the laws. Such a ruler might make harsh laws and then carry them out harshly.[1] His answer was the separation of powers.[2]
Tyranny of the majority
Tyranny does not only come from one ruler. The writer Tocqueville, in Democracy in America, described how democracy can create a tyranny of the majority. In this, the rights of smaller groups can be threatened.[3] Some thinkers also warn that some ideas of freedom can carry a risk of tyranny.[4]
Twentieth century
Harold Laski's book gives the Nazi tyranny in Germany and the Franco dictatorship in Spain as examples of regimes under which constitutions were altered.[5]
See also
References
- ↑ Axford, Barrie; Browne, Victoria; Huggins, Richard; Isaacs, Rico (2018). Politics: An Introduction (3rd ed.). Routledge. p. 325. ISBN 9781317243748.
- ↑ Axford, Barrie; Browne, Victoria; Huggins, Richard; Isaacs, Rico (2018). Politics: An Introduction (3rd ed.). Routledge. p. 324. ISBN 9781317243748.
- ↑ Axford, Barrie; Browne, Victoria; Huggins, Richard; Isaacs, Rico (2018). Politics: An Introduction (3rd ed.). Routledge. p. 280. ISBN 9781317243748.
- ↑ Axford, Barrie; Browne, Victoria; Huggins, Richard; Isaacs, Rico (2018). Politics: An Introduction (3rd ed.). Routledge. p. 246. ISBN 9781317243748.
- ↑ Laski, Harold J. (2015) [1931]. An Introduction to Politics. Routledge. p. 33. ISBN 9781317586708.