Rule by decree

Prominent historical examples

Lex Titia and Second Triumvirate

One of the first examples of rule by decree was in the ancient Roman Republic. After the assassination of Julius Caesar in 44 BC, his successor Gaius Octavian (Augustus), general Mark Antony and succeeding pontifex maximus Aemilius Lepidus seized power in the Second Triumvirate, officially recognized by the senate by the Lex Titia decree. The resolution, which gave the three 'triumvirs' authoritarian powers for five years, was enacted and reinstated consecutive in 38 BC. It finally collapsed in 33/32 BC, after the downfall of Lepidus, leading to the final Roman Republican civil war and the total collapse of republican government.

Reichstag Fire Decree of 1933

The most prominent example in history is the Reichstag Fire Decree in Germany, passed in 1933, after the Reichstag was set on fire. Chancellor Adolf Hitler successfully convinced President Paul von Hindenburg to invoke Article 48 of the Weimar Constitution, indefinitely suspending basic civil rights. Resultantly, authorities could freely suppress or imprison any opposition, paving the way for the one-party rule of the Nazi Party. The ensuing state of exception, which suspended the Constitution without formally repealing it, lasted until the end of the Third Reich in 1945.

Indian Emergency (1975–1977)

During the Indian Emergency in 1975, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi pressured the President of India to declare a state of emergency, giving her absolute powers to rule by decree. Using these newfound powers, she nullified a regional court ruling which invalidated Gandhi's election to parliament due to fraud and banned her from participating in elections for six years. After assuming near-dictatorial powers, she arrested thousands of opposition politicians, suspended habeas corpus and clamped down on press freedoms. In 1977, she agreed to hold elections again, which she lost resoundingly. She subsequently resigned as prime minister and party leader.

Russian Constitutional Crisis (1993)

From 23 September[[wikisource:ru:Указ Президента РФ от 21.09.1993 № 1400| Russian presidential decree №1400]] (in Russian) (given actual effect from 4 October after the armed disbanding of the Supreme Soviet) to 12 December 1993, rule by decree (ukase) was imposed in Russia by President Boris Yeltsin, during transition from the Russian Constitution of 1978 (which was modelled after the obsolete Soviet Constitution of 1977) to the current 1993 Constitution.

Venezuela (2000–2026)

Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez was granted executive power by the National Assembly to rule by decree multiple times throughout his tenure, passing hundreds of laws. Chávez ruled Venezuela by decree in 2000, 2001, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011 and 2012. Between 2004 and 2006 alone, Chávez declared 18 "emergencies" to rule by decree.

Chávez's successor, Nicolás Maduro, has also ruled by decree multiple times since he was elected in April 2013. President Maduro has ruled Venezuela by decree for the majority of the period from 19 November 2013 through January 2026, when he was forcibly removed by US President Donald Trump.

Legal situation

Some democracies, such as Mexico, France and Argentina, permit presidential rule by decree in time of a national emergency, subject to constitutional and other legal limitations. In France, this power has been used only once, by Charles de Gaulle in 1961 during the Algerian War.

Similar concepts exist in other countries, such as in Ireland, where the Emergency Powers Act allows the government to rule by decrees called Emergency Powers Orders in any aspect of national life, if the parliament invokes the emergency clause in Article 28(3) of the Constitution. The Act however allows the Dáil Éireann to void specific EPOs in a free vote or end the state of emergency at any time. In the UK, the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 allows for emergency regulations to be made by statutory instrument to deal with that emergency.

Other political concepts, such as French decrees, orders in council in the Commonwealth, and executive orders in the United States are partially based on this notion of decrees, although they are far more limited in scope and generally subject to judicial review.

Some legal scholars have argued that in the United States, Donald Trump's extensive use of executive orders during his first term (2017–2020) as president and more prominently during his second term (2025–), bypassing the United States Congress to enact budgetary and personnel changes, amounts to rule by decree.

Giorgio Agamben's critique of the use of decrees-law

Italian philosopher Giorgio Agamben has claimed that there has been an explosion in the use of various types of decrees (decree-law, presidential decrees, executive orders, etc.) since World War I. According to him, this is the sign of a "generalization of the state of exception".

References

References

1. (8 January 2019). "Will Trump Rule by Decree?".
2. (1973). "The Origins of Totalitarianism". Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
3. Wasson, Donald L.. (18 April 2016). "Second Triumvirate".
4. "Reichstag Fire Decree". United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
5. Kadıoğlu, Ayşe. (16 July 2016). "Coup d'état attempt: Turkey's Reichstag fire?".
6. Fowle, Farnsworth. (1975-06-27). "Verdict on June 12 Provoked the Crisis". The New York Times.
7. "Past the cliff's edge". The Economist.
8. (1977-01-19). "MRS. GANDHI, EASING CRISIS RULE, DECIDES ON MARCH ELECTION". The New York Times.
9. Henry Kamm. (1977-03-22). "MS. GANDHI RESIGNS AS PREMIER AFTER HER PARTY LOSES MAJORITY,• RIVALS GIVE A PLEDGE OF LIBERTIES". The New York Times.
10. (18 December 2010). "Venezuela grants Chavez power to rule by decree".
11. (5 December 2008). "A family affair".
12. (19 January 2007). "Rule by decree passed for Chavez".
13. (16 July 2013). "Hugo Chavez Fast Facts".
14. (19 November 2013). "Venezuelan president Maduro given power to rule by decree".
15. (16 March 2015). "Venezuela: President Maduro granted power to govern by decree".
16. Brodzinsky, Sibylla. (15 January 2016). "Venezuela president declares economic emergency as inflation hits 141%". The Guardian.
17. (18 March 2016). "Venezuela is going to shut down for a whole week because of an energy crisis".
18. (17 May 2017). "Human rights activists say many Venezuelan protesters face abusive government treatment". [[Los Angeles Times]].
19. (18 July 2017). "Gobierno extiende por décima vez el decreto de emergencia económica". [[La Patilla]].
20. Eugenio, Velasco. (16 April 2020). "Mexico: Emergency Powers and COVID-19". Verfassungsblog: On Matters Constitutional.
21. (22 June 2016). "France in 1958". The Robinson Library.
22. (3 September 1939). "Emergency Powers Act, 1939".
23. (19 February 2025). "Rule by decree? Trump's executive orders and the future of US democracy".
24. (3 February 2025). "Trump is creating an imperial presidency — and he's doing it by decree".
25. "Who will stand up to Trump's un-American rule by decree?".
26. Agamben, Giorgio. (2008-07-18). "State of Exception". [[University of Chicago Press]].