Bonapartism
Bonapartism describes rule by a strong leader, often from the military, who claims a direct mandate from the people through plebiscites. Named after Napoleon I and Napoleon III, it combines centralised authority, national glory and modernising reforms.
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Built a highly centralised administrative state.
Claims popular legitimacy through plebiscites while limiting parliamentary checks.
Uses police and censorship to maintain order.
Pursues national glory and great-power ambitions.
Closely tied to military leadership and conquest.
Promotes a unified national identity and administration.
Protects property while presenting itself as above class conflict.
The state actively directs infrastructure and economic development.
Historically used protection and blockade, though Napoleon III signed a free-trade treaty.
Uses religion as a tool of order, as with Napoleon's Concordat.
Mixes modernising legal reforms with authoritarian social order.
Embraced modern administration, engineering and industry.