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1. Dominance through threat of punishment and violence
   - tyranny, despotism
    
2. A form of government in which the ruler is an absolute dictator (not restricted by a constitution or laws or opposition etc.)
   - dictatorship, authoritarianism, Caesarism, despotism, monocracy, one-man rule, shogunate, Stalinism, totalitarianism, tyranny
    
3. The principle of complete and unrestricted power in government
   - totalitarianism, totalism
    
4. The doctrine of an absolute being

Derived forms: absolutisms

See also: absolutist, absolutistic

Type of: ascendance, ascendancy, ascendence, ascendency, autarchy, autocracy, control, doctrine, dominance, ideology, ism, mythos, philosophical system, philosophy, political orientation, political theory, school of thought

Encyclopedia: Absolutism