nificant blow in the 1994 election, returning control of
the House of Representatives to the opposition Repub-
lican Party for the first time in 44 years.
Further Reading
Fish, Bruce, and Fish, Becky Durost. The History of the Democra-
tic Party.New York: Chelsea House, 2000.
despot/despotic/despotism
A government or ruler that has absolute authority,
leaving others as totally subservient slaves. Often
related to DICTATORSHIPS, TYRANNY, or TOTALITARIAN
regimes, despotism has a long history in Western polit-
ical thought. Throughout, it is contrasted with DEMOC-
RACY, REPUBLICAN government, the RULE OF LAW, and
EQUALITY.
ARISTOTLEdescribed despotic governments in con-
trast to civilized Greek republics. The Asian and Mid-
dle Eastern “barbarians” lived under absolute despots
whose personal tyrannical rule turned everyone else
into a virtual slave. Absolute submission to the author-
ity of the despotic ruler characterized non-Greek soci-
eties in Aristotle’s view. By contrast, the Greek POLIS
encouraged shared governance, widespread citizen
participation, and free individuals. From Aristotle’s
Hellenistic view of “civilized,” democratic societies
and “barbaric,” despotic societies, he concluded that
some peoples were “natural slaves.” This also justified
taking such peoples as slaves once they were con-
quered in war. Similarly, although Aristotle’s polis is
the shared rule of free people, he allows “despotic”
rule in the Greek household (husband over wife, par-
ent over child, master over slave), but in the public
realm, free citizens engage in collective deliberation
and governance.
The MIDDLE AGES used despotism to describe a
tyrannical monarch in Europe. MODERN international
theory in GROTIUSand PUFENDORFpermitted European
domination of colonial peoples on the ground that
they were slaves by nature who were used to despotic
rule and were incapable of self-governance. Thomas
HOBBESsaw the right of despotic enslavement from
CONSENTfollowing conquest.
In the 16th and 17th centuries, REFORMATIONChris-
tians often referred to the pope’s absolute power over
the church as despotic, the faithful being reduced to
unthinking slavery. Frenchman MONTESQUIEU argued
that European monarchies that adopted oriental codes
of absolute power became despots (such as Louis
XIV). The Turkish, ISLAMICOttoman Empire served as
an example of despotic ABSOLUTISTpower (under the
sultan) to 18th-century Westerners. The Chinese
emperor was often regarded as an archetypical despot,
and Oriental subservience as reflecting natural slavish
nature. The Russian czar appeared to be oriental in
this sense, with ignorant oppressed Russian serfs only
capable of following a strong absolutist dictator.
ROUSSEAUcharged that Czar Peter the Great tried to lib-
eralize Russian society too quickly, as those centuries
of despotic government made the Russian people inca-
pable of self-government. Thomas JEFFERSONhesitated
to extend full democratic rights to the people in the
newly acquired Louisiana Territory on the grounds
that, being used to the despotism of French monarchy,
feudalism, and Catholicism, they were incapable of
self-rule.
Karl MARX saw Asiatic societies (e.g., India) as
despotic and economically stagnant, brought into
modern world economics by British colonialism and
capitalism. Contemporary military dictatorships in
Africa and Latin America are sometimes described
as despotic. Totalitarian communist regimes such as
Cuba and North Korea are often characterized as
despotic.Further Reading
Anderson, P. Lineages of the Absolute State. London: N.L.B.,
1974.Dewey, John (1859–1952) U.S. philosopher
and educator
Dewey was one of the most influential U.S. philoso-
phers of the 20th century. Born in Burlington, Ver-
mont, Dewey received his bachelor’s degree from the
University of Vermont in 1879. After teaching high
school for two years following graduation, Dewey
began graduate studies in philosophy at Johns Hop-
kins University. He received his doctorate in 1884 and
then taught for 10 years at the University of Michigan.
In 1894, Dewey left for the University of Chicago
where he became head of the department of philoso-
phy, psychology, and pedagogy. While at Chicago,
Dewey founded and directed the famous laboratory
school, or “Dewey School,” which allowed him to
develop and test his pedagogical theories on the need
to design education that was sensitive to the active
and creative dimensions of learning. Dewey’s books
School and Society(1900) and The Child and the Cur-Dewey, John 83