Classical and Modern Dictatorship

[michael perelman <michael@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

This article elaborates on the Hal Draper take on dictatorship.  I won't
read it until I get home, but a scan of the first 2 pages looks promising.


"The Concept of 'Crisis': What can We Learn from the Two
Dictatorships of L. Quinctius Cincinnatus?"

     BY:  OREN GROSS
             University of Minnesota Law School

Document:  Available from the SSRN Electronic Paper Collection:
          http://papers.ssrn.com/paper.taf?abstract_id=742506

Paper ID:  Minnesota Legal Studies Research Paper No. 05-20
   Date:  May 20, 2005

Contact:  OREN GROSS
  Email:  Mailto:gross084@xxxxxxx
 Postal:  University of Minnesota Law School
          229 19th Avenue South
          Minneapolis, MN 55455  UNITED STATES
  Phone:  612-624-7521
    Fax:  612-625-2011

ABSTRACT:
The institution of the Roman dictatorship has been regarded as
the prototype for modern-day constitutional emergency regimes.
It has been touted as "perhaps the most strikingly successful of
all known systems of emergency government." In the annals of the
Roman dictatorship, no one has been more celebrated for his
actions as dictator than Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus. According
to tradition, Cincinnatus was made dictator in 458 BC in order
to save a Roman force that was besieged by enemy forces. Upon
his victory, Cincinnatus stepped down immediately - merely
sixteen days after his appointment - relinquished all his
special powers and returned to work his land. Cincinnatus's
unwavering commitment to serve the republic and his willingness
to give up the awesome powers that had been entrusted to him
have come to represent the prime example of the dictatorship and
the qualities that were expected of a dictator and a leader.
What is far less known is that in 439 BC, the aging Cincinnatus
was, once again, appointed dictator. This time the reason for
his appointment was not a military crisis but rather part of the
socio-economic struggle between the Patricians and the Plebs.

There is much that the story of the two dictatorships of L.
Quinctius Cincinnatus can teach us about the meaning of the
concept of "crisis." This paper focuses on the shift of that
concept and the concomitant shift of the special powers designed
to overcome particular crises, from a purely military concept to
one that encompasses socio-economic elements. Similar to the
shift from a dictatorship designed to defend the republic
against external, foreign military threats to one that is used
in the context of domestic civil unrest, it traces the expanding
ambit of "national security" and "war" - concepts that are
closely linked to "crisis" - and examines the relationship
between the use of emergency powers in the context of violent
emergencies and their application in socio-economic contexts.
The paper then examines the normalization of emergency powers
and their incorporation into the ordinary, normal system both
legal and institutional. That pattern also affects our
understanding of crises and emergencies as those are no longer
exceptional but are increasingly part of the norm.

--

Michael Perelman
Economics Department
California State University
michael at ecst.csuchico.edu
Chico, CA 95929
530-898-5321
fax 530-898-5901