Unlike a complete military dictator grabbing power through a coup, most of the dictators have come to power or sustained power, through democratic elections. In a dictatorial set up, all elections are won by the party of the dictator. Continuous electoral victories for one party are an indication of a questionable regime because people naturally prefer changes and something unnatural is happening to prevent it. Opposition political leadership is generally wiped out, incarcerated or manipulated to be weak. The tool that is being used by all dictators is to use all state resources for their political agenda and propaganda. All dictators are master stroke players in manipulating public opinion. The entire state mechanism is restructured for that purpose. Whether Gaddafi`s Libya, Ben Ali`s Tunisia, Military Junta`s Burma, Idi Amin`s Uganda or Hitler`s Germany, the propaganda was at its best. They exploit nationalism, national unity and similar sentiments most attractively. Public tend to believe the dictator, because all avenues of dissenting views are either closed or controlled.

Dictatorial regimes have an advantage of sustaining public opinion, with the over mighty executive powers. They generally come to power with an overwhelming victory after exploiting culturally sensitive issues. Dictators are in general cult personalities and many of them have come to favour increasingly grandiloquent titles and honours for themselves.
Dictators do not spend their money but the state pays for the dictator and their siblings. Unrealistic expenditure for fake development projects and waste of public finance for massive constructions and popular donations at public expenditure are common. They generally create a common enemy, even if there is no such one so that the public will be busy in thinking rather than scrutinizing the regime! In almost all dictatorial regimes, propaganda machinery will stress the need for the continuation of the present political leadership to secure the interest of the country against external interference. All those who challenge the dictators will run the risk of being called collaborators with a known or yet unknown external enemy! Firstly, the regulatory institutions and law enforcement mechanism