despotism (noun)
1: dominance through threat of punishment and violence [syn: absolutism, tyranny]
2: a form of government in which the ruler is an absolute dictator (not restricted by a constitution or laws or opposition etc.) [syn: dictatorship, absolutism, authoritarianism, Caesarism, monocracy, one-man rule, shogunate, Stalinism, totalitarianism, tyranny]