Concept in Definition ABC

The term caudillo is one that is applied to a certain type of historical personages, especially characteristic of the 19th and 20th centuries, that base their power on a non-legal hierarchical structure, which is established in practice and which in most cases is ordered from of establishment of a protective and caring relationship between the followers and the leader.

In most historical cases, the figure of caudillo has been occupied by men of military origin who establish their force or power structure in the close and very special relationship they have with their followers. The caudillos promise the different inhabitants of a region certain types of services and benefits such as protection against various threats, order, prosperity, etc. In return, they hope loyalty and commitment towards those people towards their power structure. However, warlords generally do not operate openly within the law, if not that your role regarding it is ambiguous: in some cases they can respect it, and in others they can be handled from practice without resorting to or taking into account the designs of the law established by a society.

Warlords may also frequently resort to violence and the use of non-legal coercion methods. That is how you are figures policies establish their power also through fear or threat. That is why for many people the caudillos represent negative figures for a society since, although they maintain order, they do it in their own way and through the use of non-legal methods. At the same time, the caudillos are seen in most cases as truly primitive leaders since they do not organize structures of participation democratic if not that they form very complex hierarchies of power in which they act as maximum referents.