What Makes a Great Dictator?

An excellent idea Sigma! I thought given that the blog idea stemmed from what we talked about in class, I should probably post a blog. So here goes...

We always talk about what makes a good democrat -- a good democracy -- but there are still many dictatorship in the world. Is democracy the best form of government for all countries, for all people? Well, the good people in Belarus just "voted" in their dictator, Aleksandr Lukashenko back into power with 83% of the vote. Of course, there are cries of rigged elections -- but could it be that some people actually wanted him back in power? (See New York Times "A Dictator's "Re-Election"", 22 March 2006) What did he have to offer to Belarus? Some say stability -- even if he sometimes used authoriatarian means. What is his human rights record? According to Freedom House, Belarus scores 7 on political rights and 6 on civil liberties (on a scale from 1-7 with 7 being not free). Okay, so he doesn't allow for freedom of speech, political association, or real political participation -- very important if you want to be a succesful dictator. I wonder what Mr. Lukashenko's childhood was like? Often dictators have had pretty horrible childhoods -- Saddam Hussein, Slobodan Milosevic and Hitler come to mind--
Anyway, some rambling food for thought.

All Great Evil Grows From Small Sins

It started with a running joke in Dr. D's Political & Social Change course. But suppose you were a budding young war criminal. Your father gave you your first opposition-extermination unit when you were twelve. Your mother taught you how to lie to dignitaries for your fifteenth birthday and when you got flustered at your driver's license driving test at age sixteen, you killed your test proctor in the car and was issued a license by the terrified man behind the counter.

Congratulations! You have all the makings of a dictator. But you are still young, and there is much to learn. After all, you don't want to be just ANY dictator- you want to be a great one.

Welcome to Dictatorship 101!

Now sit down and shut up, or you'll be shot.