A dictatorship is a form of government in which one person or a small group possesses absolute power without effective constitutional limitations. The dictator has complete control over the government and makes decisions without any checks and balances. Dictatorships can be formed by a military coup that overthrows the previous government through force or by a self-coup in which elected leaders make their rule permanent. Dictatorships are authoritarian or totalitarian and can be classified as military dictatorships, one-party dictatorships, personalist dictatorships, or absolute monarchies. Dictators usually resort to force or fraud to gain despotic political power, which they maintain through the use of intimidation, terror, and the suppression of basic civil liberties. They may also employ techniques of mass propaganda to sustain their public support. Some characteristics of dictatorships include the suspension of elections and civil liberties, proclamation of a state of emergency, rule by decree, repression of political opponents, not abiding by the procedures of the rule of law, and the existence of a cult of personality centered on the leader. Dictatorships are often one-party or dominant-party states.