Stratocracy

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A stratocracy is a form of government headed by military chiefs. It is not necessarily the same as a military dictatorship, as the military and government can be interchangeable and a stratocracy does not have to be autocratic by nature. See Military government.

The clear distinction between a Stratocracy and a Military Junta is that a Military Dictatorship is a government which just happens to be formed by the Military leadership (there is no constitutional requirement for it), while in a stratocracy, the State is not independent of the Military and Military leaders always take government positions.

Historically, the term was used by Greeks to describe the structure of the late Roman Republic and later the early Empire, where there was no distinction between military and civilian offices. The closest contemporary government to a Stratocracy is the SPDC of Myanmar, which is arguably different from most other Military Dictatorships in that it completely abolished the civilian constitution and legislature, and the new constitution due to come into effect in 2010 cements the military's hold on power through mechanisms such as reserving 25% of the seats in the legislature for military personnel (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7402105.stm).

[edit] Stratocracy in Fiction

The popular anime series Fullmetal Alchemist portrays a government which could be viewed as a Stratocracy, since there is no suggestion throughout the chronology that anyone other than the Military could be in power.