With the intention of making its tenure as short as possible, with the use of whatever means are legal, and the freedom and lack of accountability which only an opposition party or parties can enjoy.
It is this mould which the electoral victory of Donald Trump, as President of the United States, seem to have broken.
'Strongmen' have been known to have taken power in their countries before. Their are the numerous examples in many of the countries of the Middle East, Africa and South America.
But those have been called coups, as it had been figures in the military who have used the armed forces to seize power from civilian governments.
And then set up their own 'host quasi-political party' or remove or bribe the leaders of existing parties and use them as hosts to give political legitimisation to their rule.
On the European mainland, we have seen examples of this in the rise of Hitler, Mussolini, Franco and Caetano.
So, again, are things different now; in both appearance and substance?
To be continued!
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