despotism
(noun)
noun
1. dominance through threat of punishment and violence
Similar word(s): absolutism, tyranny
Definition categories: state, ascendance, ascendancy, ascendence, ascendency, control, dominance
2. a form of government in which the ruler is an absolute dictator (not restricted by a constitution or laws or opposition etc.)
Similar word(s): absolutism, authoritarianism, caesarism, dictatorship, monocracy, shogunate, stalinism, totalitarianism, tyranny