Noun
direct rule (uncountable)
(particularly in Northern Ireland) Control by the central government of an area that has had its own governing body in the past.
Everyone knew that democracy - direct rule by all the people - required such spartan, soul-denying virtue on the part of all the people that it was likely to survive only where poverty made upright behavior necessary for the perpetuation of the race. Bernard Bailyn
Direct rule failed and ended. Source: Internet