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About half of the world (by number, not population) is authoritarian, and only <10% would be full democracies. Yet there are very few ongoing civil wars. I don'

About half of the world (by number, not population) is authoritarian, and only <10% would be full democracies. Yet there are very few ongoing civil wars. I don't think being democratic or authoritarian really matters much to most people, as long as they agree with the policies.

Jon_Lowtek 5y ago
> as long as they agree with the policies. yeah. But if one disagrees with the policies, it makes a lot of difference if the system is authoritarian or not. Reminds me of a report by Radio Yerevan: all free citizens questioned told the ministry of national security that they are happy with the government and agree with its policies. In other news a series of arrests have been made against dissident groups planing violence against nation and government.
seanmcdirmid 5y ago
> About half of the world (by number, not population) is authoritarian, and only <10% would be full democracies. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democracy_Index https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democracy_Index The world only looks more authoritarian because some of the largest countries (China and Russia) are. They thankfully are stable. In Africa and the Middle East, where there is a lot of authoritarianism, you also see a lot of civil unrest. But even though authoritarianism is highly correlated with civil unrest, it doesn't necessarily cause it (indeed, it can be caused by it). > I don't think being democratic or authoritarian really matters much to most people, as long as they agree with the policies. In one system, if you don't agree with policies, you can "vote the turkeys out", in the other system, if you don't agree...well, hopefully the authoritarians are receptive, because your only other option is violent revolution. Authoritarian regimes are also very brittle, they break easily when enough pressure is applied (but "enough" is a higher threshold like concrete).

Jon_Lowtek 5y ago

> as long as they agree with the policies. yeah. But if one disagrees with the policies, it makes a lot of difference if the system is authoritarian or not. Reminds me of a report by Radio Yerevan: all free citizens questioned told the ministry of national security that they are happy with the government and agree with its policies. In other news a series of arrests have been made against dissident groups planing violence against nation and government.

seanmcdirmid 5y ago

> About half of the world (by number, not population) is authoritarian, and only <10% would be full democracies. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democracy_Index https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democracy_Index The world only looks more authoritarian because some of the largest countries (China and Russia) are. They thankfully are stable. In Africa and the Middle East, where there is a lot of authoritarianism, you also see a lot of civil unrest. But even though authoritarianism is highly correlated with civil unrest, it doesn't necessarily cause it (indeed, it can be caused by it). > I don't think being democratic or authoritarian really matters much to most people, as long as they agree with the policies. In one system, if you don't agree with policies, you can "vote the turkeys out", in the other system, if you don't agree...well, hopefully the authoritarians are receptive, because your only other option is violent revolution. Authoritarian regimes are also very brittle, they break easily when enough pressure is applied (but "enough" is a higher threshold like concrete).