A benevolent dictatorship is a government in which an authoritarian leader exercises absolute political power over the state but is perceived to do so with regard for the benefit of the population as a whole. It stands in contrast to the decidedly malevolent stereotype of a dictator, who focuses on their supporters and their own self-interests.
Characteristics
editA benevolent dictator may allow for some civil liberties or democratic decision-making to exist, such as through public referendums or elected representatives with limited power and can make preparations for a transition to genuine democracy during or after their term.[1][need quotation to verify]
Mancur Olson characterized dictators as "not like the wolf that preys on the elk, but more like the rancher who makes sure his cattle are protected and are given water", arguing that they have an incentive to provide public goods at the same time they extract the largest possible surplus for themselves.[2]
Economist William Easterly, using the term "benevolent autocrat", identifies two versions of the concept; one that argues that autocrats in general are simply superior to democratic leaders at producing rapid economic growth, and one that argues that the highest-quality autocrats are better at producing growth than the very best democratic leaders. Easterly says that both versions are unsupported by the available evidence, with leaders generally having no measurable effect on growth, and that the reason they have nonetheless persisted is because of their psychological appeal, which has allowed them to claim credit for natural growth that they had no hand in creating.[3] He reports that this rhetoric, using economic development as a justification was popular in the early 20th century as a support for colonial rulings. The British colonial official Lord Hailey said in the 1940s: "A new conception of our relationship...may emerge as part of the movement for the betterment of the backward peoples of the world".[3][4]
In popular culture
editIn the Spanish language, the pun word dictablanda is sometimes used for a dictatorship conserving some of the liberties and mechanisms of democracy. The pun is that, in Spanish, dictadura is "dictatorship", dura is "hard" and blanda is "soft". Analogously, the same pun is made in Portuguese as ditabranda or ditamole. In February 2009, the Brazilian newspaper Folha de S.Paulo ran an editorial classifying the military dictatorship in Brazil (1964–1985) as a "ditabranda", creating controversy.[5]
See also
edit- Absolute monarchy
- Benevolent dictator for life (related concept in terms of software)
- Dictablanda
- Democracy indices
- Enlightened absolutism
- Meritocracy
- Philosopher king
- Separation of powers
- Social planner
- Soft despotism
References
edit- ^ Roth, Steffen J. (2007). VWL für Einsteiger: eine anwendungsorientierte Einführung (2. Ausgabe) [Economics for beginners: an application-oriented introduction (2nd Edition)] (in German). Lucius & Lucius UTB GmbH. pp. 133–134. ISBN 9783825227425 – via Google Books.
- ^ Olson, Mancur (1993-01-01). "Dictatorship, Democracy, and Development". The American Political Science Review. 87 (3): 567–576. doi:10.2307/2938736. JSTOR 2938736. S2CID 145312307.
- ^ a b Easterly, William (4 March 2014). The Tyranny of Experts: Economists, Dictators, and the Forgotten Rights of the Poor. Basic Books. ISBN 978-0-465-08090-8 – via Google Books.
- ^ Easterly, William (2010). "Democratic Accountability in Development: The Double Standard". Social Research: An International Quarterly. 77 (4): 1075–1104. ISSN 1944-768X.
- ^ Ribeiro, Igor (February 25, 2009). "A "ditabranda" da Folha" [The "ditabranda" of Folha] (in Portuguese). Portal Imprensa. Archived from the original on 2012-02-01.