direct colonial rule

{{short description|Establishment of a centralized foreign authority within a territory}}

{{see also|Indirect rule|Colonialism}}

Direct colonial rule is a form of colonialism that involves the establishment of a centralized foreign authority within a territory, which is run by colonial officials. According to Michael W. Doyle of Harvard University, in a system of direct rule, the native population is excluded from all but the lowest level of the colonial government.{{cite book|last1=Doyle|first1=Michael W.|title=Empires|date=1986|publisher=Cornell University Press|location=Ithaca, N.Y.|isbn=080149334X|edition=1. publ.}} Ugandan academic Mahmood Mamdani classifies direct rule as centralized despotism: a system where natives were not considered citizens.{{cite book|last1=Mamdani|first1=Mahmood|title=Citizen and subject : contemporary Africa and the legacy of late colonialism|date=1996|publisher=Princeton University Press|location=Princeton, N.J.|isbn=0691027935}}

The opposite of direct colonial rule is indirect rule, which integrates pre-established local elites and native institutions into the government.