Napoleon III has some claim to be the first modern dictator. He realized that his legitimacy depended on popular support, not on some old-established religious or secular principle or tradition. Thus his coup and later the Senate resolution declaring him emperor were both put to a national vote. Other votes followed on other issues. This was, in other words, a plebiscitary dictatorship. Behind the scenes, the emperor managed and manipulated elections and referendums by a mixture of bribery and intimidation in order to get the right result, whether a yes vote for his policies, or an obliging,
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