Why Autocracies Have Elections: How Strongmen Exploit Voting for Their Own Gain

On March 15, 2024, voters in Russia will go to the polls to choose who will be president. But the outcome already seems set in stone: Vladimir Putin will win another term in office. Russia's autocratic election is not unique, though. Since the Cold War's conclusion, about 69% of autocracies run elections of some kind. But why do they do it? This video explores the circumstances where they are sometimes forced to but how in other cases autocracies have found ways to exploit the electoral process for their own benefit.
0:00 Elections in Autocracies
2:24 Democratic Legacies
4:42 Diplomatic Pressure
7:16 Domestic Legitimacy
8:46 Information Gathering
11:09 Deflecting Blame
12:53 Controlling Local Officials
14:24 Making Credible Commitments
16:13 Efficiency Gains
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[@anttibra]

Russians get to vote between "Vladimir" and "Putin".

[@justinstewart6366]

Funny but unfortunately, it's reality.

[@u2beuser714]

​@@justinstewart6366 It wasnt in 2000s many polls showes that putin had high approval rates before he consolidated all the media for himself

[@GeorgeSemel]

Russia needs Boris Badenov and his henchwoman Natasha.

[@nicholasgutierrez9940]

@@u2beuser714Usually how it goes. Person gets enough popular support and power to consolidate it all to himself. Then forms a new system to officially establish the new regime. People go RRRREEEEE when it happens though.

[@dominuslogik484]

@@u2beuser714 that is in part due to the way in which the Russian mindset works. having interacted with enough Russians (and other eastern Europeans for that matter) so long as the bare minimum is being met by their leadership the overwhelming majority of them will support the person. basically they have had generations of leadership that has horribly abused and lied to them in the past so any sense of stability is enough for them as a culture to rally to an individual because they are skeptical of anyone promising to be better than what they have now and most have resigned themselves to thinking they couldn't do anything about it anyway.

[@Elongated_Muskrat]

It's a good way to manufacture consent and also helps determine which regions need the most civil suppression and secret police attention.

[@u2beuser714]

There is no such thing as "more civil suppression" peoples opinions change almost daily you never know where the next civil unrest happens

[@MrGoodCat8]

​@u2beuser714 can you keep your ignorance to yourself

[@nunyabusiness863]

​@@u2beuser714organized, kinetic uprisings do not spontanteously form overnight. They take time. And dissent is often shown by how many people voted for the other guy, even if he had no chance of winning. In autocratic systems, this is tracked and targeted.

[@PH4RX]

Yep, and then you have the drawbacks of autocracy.

[@u2beuser714]

​@@nunyabusiness863 In autocracies people get silenced one way or another so its absurd to suggest someone will willingly vote for another person, you are kinda admitting that autocracies have some form of free election or unbiased polls? Nonsense

[@QuixEnd]

Voting gives ambiguity to the sense that "Well, if we _really_ wanted him out we'd vote him out" Its incredibly easy for big systems to subtly direct populations.

[@newnamesameperson397]

Like here in the states

[@benjammin9745]

​@newnamesameperson397 probably not the best example, but okay

[@divat10]

Isn't it a pretty good example when you basically only have 2 options?

[@createdforthemoment6740]

While that is an issue, to be sure, the difference is can you answer the question: who is going to win the American election? ​@@divat10

[@vidkunpurischkewitsch9598]

Russia is a Democracy and Putin is elected because he is the most popular and competent Politician.

[@Jonnyboy1738]

Steven Seagal jump scare at 2:54

[@MijinLaw]

His musical talent can't be denied though: kzbin.info/www/bejne/aaeXXq2PnM2imsU

[@mikelee2213]

Steven Seagal said Putin is "one of the great living world leaders". That's all I need to know about him. Pathetic.

[@kratozaku]

Came here to post this.

[@eriks.9730]

Where’s Gerard Depardieu? 😊

[@evananderson1455]

​@@MijinLawPart of me feels like I should probably call the police and press charges for you exposing me to that. Holy hell, that is awful. Like really really REALLY bad.

[@Simalacrum]

I heard somewhere that North Korea's mandatory 'elections' act almost like an impromptu census - since everyone has to vote, you can tell who is based where, and note absences for individuals who for example may have attempted defection.

[@vidkunpurischkewitsch9598]

Russia is more democratic than the US infact and Putin is only portraited as an Autocrat because he does not want accept the global hegemony of US just like Milosevic (who was later killed). The US itself is only an Oligarchy and Ukraine which is a Client State of US is an extremely corrupt Gangster state.

[@damislav]

@@vidkunpurischkewitsch9598 milosevic was not killed. He was war criminal who invaded 4 countries.

[@vidkunpurischkewitsch9598]

@@damislav Milosevic was killed because he was not guilty and he fought only for protection of Serbian minorities from repression in Bosnia and Croatia and in Kosovo which was not independent country at that time but a Serbian province that was ruled partly by A Terrorist Group named UCK.

[@damislav]

@@vidkunpurischkewitsch9598 Was that your russian source that said that. Cause when Croatia declared independance ,that she legally had rights. Serbs minority started blocking roads . Milosevic goal was Greater Serbia. So if anything every other country in Yugoslavia was repressed. They commited many massacres like in Vukovar and Srebrenica. Not to mention siege of Sarajevo that lasted 4 years. Buddy you are defending genocidal terrorist state. But that's not surprising for someone that thinks Putin is good guy. I guess cheaper oil for your Indian people is worth it.

[@vidkunpurischkewitsch9598]

@@damislav Im not an Indian. Milosevic was not a worse leader than Tudjman or Izetbegovic and he was infact a Socialist who used Nationalism primary for mobilization and those was a civic and moderate variant of it. Tudjman called Serbs of Krajina a cancer that is about to destroy the identity of Croatian nation and coquetted with Ustasha. Izerbegovic was an Islamist who was the Proponent of a wordwide Islamic state. The UCK was an irredentist and folkish Nationalist Terror group whose leaders are descendants of Albanian Nazi-Collaborators and bosses of the Albanian Mafia. Kosovo is a Mafia state and is economical and political not well-functioning. The massacres that you mentioned either did not take place or were only misrepresented actions of marauding units or a group of individual soldiers. Seselj and Karadzic were Ultra-Nationalists while Milosevic and Mladic were moderate and wanted a Dialogue with Croats, Bosniaks and Kosovo-Albanians. The international court in Den Haag sentenced only Serbian war criminals but not Croatian, Bosniak or Kosovo-Albanian ones. It is controlled by Intelligence Services of the NATO and is not even recognized by the US itself.

[@General12th]

Hi Dr. Spaniel! The title of your next book should be _So You Just Inherited an Autocratic Government: What's Next?"_

[@JohnGeorgeBauerBuis]

That is *brilliant*.

[@pieterfaes6263]

Isn't that a more detailed and practical application version of 'The Dictator's Handbook: Why Bad Behavior is Almost Always Good Politics'? I mean that book could use one of those; it is rather general so it doesn't quite elaborate on tips and tricks like these.

[@JinKee]

Imagine being so inoffensive that you get picked to be an alternative candidate to Vladimir Putin.

[@mqmareq6248]

Spaniels in White House! Can't stop laughing, you really got me off guard with that one 🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@embreis2257]

4:14 ah, the glory days.

[@MistaBreed]

@@embreis2257 3:43 is Putin demonstrating in he middle of the crowd...

[@kieranelliott5607]

I've always been fascinated by the mechanics and process of autocratic elections. From holding thumb on the scale at one end to just flat out making it up at the other, and to what extent they feel they need to disguise the sham. Selecting the winning % is clearly a choice many struggle with.

[@downix]

I would not call Yeltsin a "more democratic past" in any book. He literally slaughtered the elected legislature in order to implement a Constitution which granted him near absolute power; the very power Putin now enjoys.

[@downix]

Additionally, China has multiple parties. You do not need to be a member of the CPC to run for office.

[@emperorclaudius5499]

"A parliament is originally founded to represent the people, but this in itself is undemocratic as democracy means the authority of the people and not an authority acting on their behalf" - Gaddafi

[@XIIchiron78]

The people, ideally, delegate their power to an assembly who can specialize in the practice of lawmaking, judiciary, and execution. It's no different than hiring an accountant to manage your finances or visiting a restaurant to have a chef cook you a meal. Having every citizen be completely educated on the minutiae of every facet of government is a colossal waste, and also completely impossible. So the delegates are expected to represent the interests of the people and communicate the relevant specifics of various issues. The problem is that the mechanism of control we have is broken which denies us any accountability and leaves us to choose only between lesser and greater evils. The problem is vote splitting and the entrenched duopoly it creates, not democracy. It is fixable with better voting methods.

[@kevinfrancaissfkk8072]

"a nice 69%" Nice.

[@stuff8195]

I think more like 94 to 96

[@Yuuzu]

Nice.

[@benjammin9745]

Good number. Better than many others

[@cjaydustie1867]

Nice.

[@varun009]

Nice

[@ImreBertalan86]

I am just surprised, you did not mention the Hungarian examples how changing the election system in your own favor can cement ones power. Also, because Viktor Orbán himself said, he want's an illiberal democracy in Hungary.

[@adstalga]

And Hungary's elections are still technically free. But Orban and associates influence the outcome by gerrymandering and shaping the media narrative, to the point where the outcome is a foregone conclusion.

[@krisfrederick5001]

“The war is not meant to be won, it is meant to be continuous. Hierarchical society is only possible on the basis of poverty and ignorance. This new version is the past and no different past can ever have existed. In principle the war effort is always planned to keep society on the brink of starvation. The war is waged by the ruling group against its own subjects and its object is not the victory over either Eurasia or East Asia, but to keep the very structure of society intact.” ― George Orwell

[@drunkenslav2334]

Reminds me of the war on terror and the cold War, there always has to be an enemy to rally against

[@jakebrooks3415]

Sounds like the conservative culture war

[@normaaliihminen722]

@@jakebrooks3415you are so correct. Culture war is synonymous to cultural evolution in which strongest culture is calling the shots / dominate. It doesn’t matter who is morally right or wrong it’s about who is left to rule. This applies not just political ideologies but also to religions (as both are self-replicating information units) as well which is why Islam will likely going to dominate the Europe in near future because it is highly intolerant, aggressive in its spread and demands unquestionable and unhinged subscriptions to Islamic beliefs.

[@drunkenslav2334]

@@normaaliihminen722 this is not correct, Islam will not dominate europe because its inherently not build for the material conditions it finds itself in, you will find islam be dilluted into more moderate beliefs and eventually turn into muslim-coded theism and atheism. what will dominate europe will be anti-liberal ideologies like fascism, communism and similar beliefs. the current liberal status quo simply cannot survive forever, it is economically unfeasible.

[@FredTheRed27]

@@normaaliihminen722I think you’ve been duped the very culture war they were talking about regarding Islam… using Islam as an enemy is one of the major tactics conservatives have used as of late, Islamic regimes tend to be rather extreme at the moment but at the end of the day Christianity can be equally as rabid and repressive- just look at the American alt right! There’s nothing inherent about Islam that makes it uniquely regressive, it’s just that in the places it’s practiced the repressive groups won control.

[@Krom5072]

As a Russian, who also happens to be a political scientist: a lot of people think that elections are politically meaningless if the incumbent does not change. This is generally not true, I can give a counterexample - in Singapore, one party dominated the elections since independence - and these elections are in no way competitive or fair - but they are really useful politically as a sort of feedback mechanism (a drop from 70% to 50% votes for the ruling party would in fact trigger some policy changes to correct for that). In Russia specifically, the President's administration obviously controls all the major policy outcomes, things that foreigners normally care about and notice - foreign policy, domination of certain elite factions, the level of political freedoms and stuff. But in many places the administration doesn't control or care to control the policy. A recent example would be how in late 2023 there was a huge conservative motion to restrict abortions - pioneered by the Russian Orthodox Church - and it seemed so drastic as if Russian abortion legislation (which is still among the most liberal globally) would now suddenly make a big 180. However then Putin intervened and said that restricting abortions is kind of stupid. Then regional parliaments quickly dropped the bills that they had about that (the major policy idea was to ban abortions from private clinics - very few regions now actually carried this proposal through). This example hints that Putin did not really care about this policy issue to control it, and in all likelihood, in was the ROC and the medicine ministry acting on their own. Hence, in some policy areas, one could envision achieving some outcomes through 'normal' political procedures (i.e. voting in politicians who suit your interests) when these outcomes do not refer to areas critical for the administration. In 2019-2020, a new political party (which is called literally the New People) formed in Russia and quickly got voted in the State Duma in 2021. Obviously they are a project of the Kremlin and they do not challenge the status quo, but they can make changes even though they are 5% of the parliament; as it is a liberal-leaning party, it harbors many liberal economists, who often and very productively discuss certain issues with respective ministries or the Central Bank and stuff. Thus they contributed to Russian economy not dying due to sanctions. (I guess it's not a cause of celebrations for you Westerners but for a Russian citizen it is a desirable outcome.) There is a rationale for voting in these presidential elections even though you know for a fact that Putin can't be voted out. To be specific, the LDPR party (the 'liberal democratic' party which is actually famously a nationalist party) has really been on decline when its ancient leader, Zhirinovsky, died in 2022. The slogan most used by present LDPR candidate is literally 'Zhirinovsky's cause is alive', they can't invent a meaningful agenda now and have no place in a political landscape. A meaningful political goal for these elections is to put this LDPR dude in the last place, in an attempt to undermine the party so that it drops out of State Duma next cycle and we will have New People on the right, United Russia in the center, and KPRF and Just Russia (socialist parties) on the left. Why does it matter? Again, since United Russia is subservient to the president but is not, like, an extension of the administration, undermining United Russia and using State Duma to argue for policies is a meaningful goal. That is why I have been urging all my acquaintances to vote for the New People candidate (he's not a good guy but he represents the most interesting party + he is the only registered candidate with an anti-war position). The fatalist understanding of Russian politics - that it all-or-nothing, you either vote Putin and live in authoritarianism, or resist the administration in any way possible - is really only present in Russia among the opposition-leaning pro-Western electorate - which is NOT in any way a politically powerful group (I estimate it's 15% of the population at most, and a lot of these left Russia during mobilization). The rest have kind of learned to live within Putin's regime and adapt. Although I would agree that Putin has been very successful in depoliticizing the broader population such that a lot of people don't know or care to engage with politics.

[@MG.Fishing]

So, what's your opinion on what the opposition could possibly do even if they stopped yelling at each other and consolidated around voting for Davankov as Katz proposes(and being hated for). Let's imagine a situation when everyone who's against Putin suddenly agrees with Katz and votes for Davankov. This will obviously not happen but still even if 40% of the voters chose him would it really change anything? We've all seen what happened in Belarus in 2020 and Belarus wasn't even remotely close to a fascist like state as Russia is these days. We all know who has already won this "election". No matter what we do inside Russia changes the situation or even scares Putin at this point. Looks like the terror has won, the repressions are somewhat successful and almost everyone who could afford it has left the country at this point. I mean as a Russian who is currently still in Russia I'm coming to honor Alexey's memory on 17th 12:00 just to look around and see if there are still people other than myself who despise what's going on with our country but frankly I don't expect anything positive or even neutral at this point because it seems like it's only going to get exponentially worse. I still haven't decided if I vote/vandalize the ballot paper or just stand there looking around but that's likely because I don't feel/believe that any sort of action can give any result at this point. What's your opinion regarding this issue?

[@badluck5647]

A Russian political scientist just sounds depressing.

[@Ravi9A]

​@@badluck5647on the contrary it sounds honest as fuck

[@badluck5647]

@@Ravi9A Eliminating the opposition to retain a kleptocracy and arresting anyone who reports the truth while pretending to be a democracy is the most cynical political system on Earth.

[@Ravi9A]

@@badluck5647 cynicism is just a label given to honesty one dislikes

[@davidniemi6553]

Thanks for the insightful video on how small amounts of "democracy" can benefit autocrats in a controlled manner. And love the Bush Sr. era Spaniels reference!

[@AlexVictorianus]

In case of a coup attempt, citizens would gather behind the autocrat, who is legitimized by pseudo elections. This was the case with Erdogan in 2015. It’s a big advantage, autocrats receive from pseudo elections.

[@angies.7689]

Corruption in an autocratic state is inherent and absolute and, to paraphrase Navalny in his final statement, corruption unchecked will destroy a state and in Russia under Putin this is inevitable.

[@sunalwaysshinesonTVs]

"When an elected leader loses office within a well established democracy, they tend to just go home..." until recently. Democracy is dunzo.

[@baneofbanes]

It’s not “dunzo”

[@jaggerpirtle3766]

Trump literally went home to florida and started to face charges. It’s not dunzo lmao

[@sunalwaysshinesonTVs]

@@jaggerpirtle3766 ...after inciting a insurrection.

[@J.C...]

2:55 IS THAT STEVEN SEAGAL!?!

[@GojiMet86]

The man is an absolute Russian stooge!

[@LynnWillis426]

Good catch!

[@Riya-ho5zv]

yeah it's kinda weird, he has Serbian and Russian citizenship apparently

[@TheResilient5689]

He can totally stay there too.

[@m4yd1e86]

If I had professors like this, I'd have an MBA, but I didn't. So I'm a heavy equipment operator. Thanks for another interesting video!

[@pandibbarman]

Option 1 : putin Option 2 : Vladimir putin ☠️

[@nebojsag.5871]

The idea that Russia was a fundamentally fine if flawed as a democracy while Yeltsin slaughtered his political enemies with tanks is a fucking joke😂

[@Ravi9A]

It's typical western zealotry

[@fillosof66689]

The political opponents in question were themselves not above using armed violence to achieve their goals, and indeed they fired the first shot. Yeltsin just had more pull and so came out on top.

[@nebojsag.5871]

@@fillosof66689 Yeltsin committed economic genocide against his own people and then rigged the election of '96 in his favor. How the fuck was he not the unambiguous bad guy in this situation? Or are you one of those subhuman vermin who unironically supported Yeltsin?

[@user-ou9qd9no5n]

Yeah, Russia never been democratical

[@jamieson2630]

Hell Divers 2 type Democracy.

[@glenn3646]

😂😂 indeed Russia is infested with Poopin bugs

[@ratingexplicit7441]

Treasonous speech detected. Democracy officers will escort you to the nearest freedom camp. Please remain where you are.

[@MainlineThruTheRockies]

In Russia, you have two options on your ballot: Putin Prison

[@teeteetuu94]

- Putin - Put in (prison)

[@bulletflight]

Novichok is the secret third choice if you spoil your ballot.

[@flyingturtle22]

at 7:20, "the cold war was a battle of ideologies, democracy vs communism." Thats simply not true. El salvador, honduras, nicaragua, cuba, chile, congo, vietnam, etc etc would beg to differ. it was at best capitalism vs communism worse anti-communism at all costs, by all accounts in the countries stated before the most popular leader was more of a leftist/communist and thus shunned by the US or replaced by an authoritarian figure who would remain loyal to american interest.

[@Ravi9A]

In a video full of delusion that moment was particularly special.

[@Khal_Rheg0]

Thank you!

[@Antonnick]

Only difference to the US American elections is that there you get a choice between two. Not really democratic either as the one candidate who spends the most money is usually the one that wins. At the end of the day, just as contrived as the autocracies mentioned in the video.

[@constantinethecataphract5949]

The western world is run by cosmopolitan oligarchs. The opposition is run by nationalist or at least more local autocrats. Democracy is and especially 1 citizen 1 vote style universal suffrage style Democracy was, is and always will be a pipe dream. The iron law of oligarchy is absolute in any society and system.

[@JurzGarz]

Not at all. In the American system, flawed as it is, people actually have a legitimate choice between alternatives and those in power are frequently removed after losing elections. Governments aren’t elementary school math equations, you can’t just say “two is only slightly more than one, so having two candidates is only slightly more democratic than having one candidate”. Especially because Americans typically have way more than two candidates, but use primaries to resolve intraparty politics.

[@Justme42yay]

Yay early for a change I appreciate your videos sir

[@jcdisci]

Always eagerly anticipate your videos.

[@internet_introvert]

I hate when people frame things in terms of "democracy vs communism" Such a Blue And Orange argument. Theoretically you can have a democratic communist state. Economy and means of government are two different things.

[@baneofbanes]

Maybe yet every time the communists seem RoC one to power it’s the Marxist-Leninists or some variation at the helm.

[@andrewwalker1131]

You explain topics very well. You speak clearly. Thank you.

[@lukaswilhelm9290]

You should also look at Indonesian democracy, it used to be iliberal during Sukarno and Suharto's rule. Funny thing is even after reformation in 1998 things still don't change that much, sure they can have multi party elections but nepotism and corruption still rign supreme as recent Indonesian presidential election got Jokowi's son to be future vice president.

[@paulsweeney9084]

During his heyday, Trujillo in the Dominican Republic "won" an election by 110%. Whoops.

[@bomoose]

he added all who voted for him plus 99%

[@lakewobegonesbest8725]

I work in retail ops mgmt. It’s ironic how similar it operates to an autocracy. Company media shows CEOs meeting workers. Pics/quotes of the 1st dear-CEO are all over the walls. He was “revolutionary.” The CEOs since him were all buggy pushers at one point. Working class who worked their way up (ivy league edu and Mandarin fluency are coincidental). Must praise the dear CEO and model his leadership, never complain. “Listen” to your workers but report if 2+ workers complain together. Problems are never policy or staffing budgets. Just work harder to meet quotas and blame the ppl below you. Wage increase = benefits decrease. Be glad that the company is adopting new tech to cut costs when AI is used to downsize. It’s the dear CEO’s will to protect shareholder happiness. This is the backbone of our liberal democracy.

[@Algizia]

Democracy shouldn't be confused with ekections. Democracy is the rule by and for the people. Or at least, a large part of the population. Elections even with universal suffrage doesn't inherently imply the existence of a democracy because power may be distributed in a way that makes the elections not have any impact on who holds power within a society.

[@therealspeedwagon1451]

Voting for autocracies gives a form of legitimacy that isn’t simply military might. I think it is also a major tool of propaganda. They tend to have elections so that their shills and propagandists can say “Look! North Korea has elections, therefore it has to be the most free and democratic society on the planet!” When in reality these elections are often rigged and the seats of power are predetermined. North Korea is technically a multiparty democracy, but all the parties are small and range from social democrats to nationalist communists. With the Korean Worker’s Party having the most seats and being the ruling party of North Korea since its founding by Kim Il Sung.

[@runajain5773]

Yeh still the joke if you form opposititon party to Korean worker party next day they will gone existence

[@Ragatokk]

Autocrats need to avoid rebellion sure, but they can give way better living conditions than just the minimum as well. And they can fail and get the rebellion they wish to avoid.

[@baneofbanes]

But that doesn’t make them and their friends rich.

[@Ragatokk]

A more secure grip on power is also good for them.@@baneofbanes

[@constantinethecataphract5949]

​@@baneofbanes Why does making the people's standard of living better and the rulling class well being have to be in opposition? Most countries and civilizations in history were "autocratic" yet often the relation between the 2 ideas weren't in opposition. The German empire was more autocratic yet still had a good standard of living for the time. Its the framework that we examine societies that give us our biases of what a good system looks like.

[@Adsper2000]

@@RagatokkStatistically, the thing that is most likely to cause an autocratic country to flip and become a democratic country is higher GDP per capita and higher economic growth. That process doesn’t necessarily need to be too violent, but leaders with a deathgrip on power have no way out but the grave.

[@AlexxGamboa]

Press x to doubt, Lmao love it

[@johnwdferguson3149]

Ha. Excellent analysis.

[@iambicpentakill971]

In a democracy they lose and go home most of the time. Sometimes they try to commit insurrections

[@ilyapopov2818]

A guy talks about protests and shows a picture of "Immortal Regiment". (A march, that takes place every May 9 in memory of people, who fought in WWII)

[@agharuokansirim4935]

You should do a video in reverse for so called democracies

[@ra42mario]

Sounds like the 2020 presidential election

[@baneofbanes]

Not really.

[@johnsullivan6843]

4:17 aaahhh yes, I see what you did there! 😂😂

[@politelyupset]

A lot of people in other countries didn't have a chance to vote in embassies because there were too many people wanting to vote. E.g. in Belgrade the last people who managed to vote came at 11:30 AM, and embassy closed it's doors at 8 PM.

[@scorpiovenator_4736]

Gotta love russian autocracy, time to add that "democratic" title like north korea and the diplomatic republic of the congo. Democratic russen federation

[@Kody-xy3jj]

Brilliant analysis. Thank you !

[@michaelrocha7159]

Always look forward to watching your videos with my morning coffee and paperwork crunch

[@tilhon]

You often say that enough economic mismanagement, repression and war can lead to regime threatening protests. This has happened on multiple times in Iran but Iran is in the end of the day chugging along. How would you explain that?

[@JurzGarz]

Iran has faced regime threatening protests, it’s just that they’ve never managed to actually topple the regime. Most protest movements in autocracies wind up getting crushed; successful revolutions are the exception, not the rule.

[@danielvelazquez776]

Yeeii México mentioned 🎉

[@Gametheory101]

Hola hola

[@lacasadelvideojuego3880]

Para que, tener muchos partidos tampoco sirve cuando TODOS son la misma cosa…

[@danielvelazquez776]

@@lacasadelvideojuego3880 siento que servía para tener las cámaras más divididas y obligarlos a negociar con más facciones de distintos intereses, pero al final igual que en muchos países todo tiende a volverse dos bloques y remoras satélites. Life is pain 🙃

[@lacasadelvideojuego3880]

@@danielvelazquez776 Si en si Mexico solo son dos bloques con todas las coalisiones lo peor es que partidos que se odiaron hace un sexenio ahora trabajan juntos, pero siento que la politica mexicana esta aun peor que eso. Simplemente todos prometen arreglar el pais y ninguno ha hecho un cambio significativo en la sociedad que uno diga "ya avanzamos" encima de que se señalan mutuamente como los culpables.

[@jakegarvin7634]

All this time I thought he was a C.I.A. agent but it turns out he's a mid-size show breed

[@natethenoble909]

Beware the Ides of March....

[@UA10i12]

Benjamin Franklin, still influences so much of the world hondreds of years after his death.

[@asavelakuse6865]

Yep until someone fucks it up

[@slepeckymamut9960]

306 / 5,000 I grew up in communist Czechoslovakia, where the "elections" consistently ended with a win of 99.98% for the Communist Party (more precisely for the election candidate of the National Front, but that meant the same thing). Why and how did it happen that elections in autocracies no longer lead to a result of 99.98%? That is, with the exception of the mentioned Saddam.

[@thunderbug8640]

If you’re gonna hold show elections to feign democratic legitimacy, going as high as 99.98% is going to look sus to basically everyone giving it a sideways glance, especially in the age of the internet. Something in the range of 75-85 looks much more realistic, most true democratic landslide wins are at most in the 60-70% range.

[@baneofbanes]

Because that automatically shows that it’s fake.

[@shekelboi]

4:17 that pun lol

[@Random1208]

Your video really should have followed up on that last comment about a ruler possibly preferring a dirt-poor country over which their rule is stable,

[@khathecleric]

Managed democracy

[@PeanutsDadForever]

Another Amazing Video! Thank you. 🇦🇺👴🏻

[@daigakunobaku273]

》Protests 》Shows Бессмертный полк Was it so hard to find photos of the actual protests?

[@heinekelland9223]

Could you make a new video on China's role in the war? I have seen some videos on chinese manufactured equipment supplying the russians which contradicts your claim that china was not going to help russia. Do you think its to further tie up the west's resources in ukraine by helping russia fight longer, as to be able to attack taiwan with less response from the west? Also what about north Korea new saber rattling, could that be another diversion?

[@seneca983]

7:25 I think this is a little bit misleading. The Soviet Union did also claim to be a democracy and held elections, though those elections only had one candidate on the ballot for the voters to choose from. Ideologically, the Communist party's claimed legitimacy came from that it purported to represent the people, or at least the proletariat.

[@MikeBilous]

Managed democracy at its finest

[@georgemartin1383]

That is how I feel about US elections. Both parties are on the same team.

[@angelikaskoroszyn8495]

In certain aeras they're definitely on the same team. In others they're years apart. A can give a small example of protecting of freedom of (and from) religion. Obama admin provided protection for the people who get help from state funded religious organisations. If you're homeless and there's a homeless shelter in your city you wouldn't be forced to participate in religious activities. Additionally this religious organisation would be obligated to inform you about your rights Sounds reasonable, doesn't it? Well, according to Trump admin it wasn't. State funded organisations should be allowed to forcefully brainwash the most vulnerable Then Biden came and his admin brought those protections back It might sound like a nothing burger but it's one of many examples of Trump admin trying to build a christofascist regime on all levels while Biden admin is, more or less, able to slow it down if not reverse Remember - they always target the most vulnerable first. Those who can't say no. The homeless, the prisoners, the children...

[@DUCKVILLELOL]

Some elements of the last few chapters remind me of The Dictators Handbook - those 'keys to power'

[@lupusdeum3894]

More of an affirmation than a vote. 😊

[@George_M_]

Ah yes, Managed Democracy.

[@marcussassan]

thanks for this video

[@paulmiller591]

It's so sad. Thanks to its significant mineral wealth, highly educated population, and proximity to multiple vital global markets, Russia should be a very wealthy country. I hope the Russian people will one day push for better people to run their country and that those who have influence think more about that future than short-term gains.

[@XIIchiron78]

8:45 political factionalization is mostly driven by the voting method itself, often specifically by a mechanism called "center squeeze". There are other voting methods, that don't have this problem, so I call them "consensus building". It is a shame our broken system gives cover for autocrats to demean the entire concept of democracy in this way. E: To elaborate, there is some degree of exclusivity between consensus (utilitarian) focus and majoritarian focus, so the most actively consensus building methods tend to be cardinal ones like Score, STAR, and Approval, but some condorcet methods like Ranked Pairs and Smith-Minimax also have some effect beyond just solving center squeeze (which is to say, they perform better than other condorcet methods in terms of Bayesian regret). There are also proportionally representative options like allocated score but these are far less studied and understood. I mention this to note that many proportional methods also drive factionalism by carving out a winner for specific niches without actually representing the population as a whole. The legislative and geographic structure also matters etc... democracy is really hard, actually. Like, mathematically.

[@user-rz9bi5cz1j]

Enjoy your explanations. Would very much like hear your thoughts about the happenings in Warsaw vs Gaza World reaction in one case was abhorrence and the other a yawn.

[@Pensasneuvostoliittolainen]

7:21 by no theory was the cold war a battle between a form of governance and an economic system lol.

[@suspicionofdeceit]

What would be a better one sentence description?

[@damislav]

Yes it was.

[@Pensasneuvostoliittolainen]

@@suspicionofdeceit "The cold war was a battle between two fundamentally different systems; one a communist dictatorship, another a capitalist democracy:" You could also juxtapose the two different forms of government or economy with each other and it'd be fine. My issue with the original wording is that an equally valid argument would be "The cold war was a battle between capitalism and dictatorship" even though they clearly don't rule each other out. e.g. Singapore probably having higher life expectancy than the home country of anyone reading this.

[@steveo976]

Leader of a coup - Has a “ Small window of opportunity “ Current Leader resends on going along with this decision “ - opponent falls out of window to his death ! Russia is Special

[@fritt_wastaken]

All borders should be completely open to all people, and that should be enforced internationally. Only if people could freely choose where to live governments would get their sh*t together. Otherwise there is not much incentive for good governing even in democracies, because there is no real competition

[@baneofbanes]

Lol that’s a good joke.

[@gloverfox9135]

@@baneofbanesSchengen zone exists

[@baneofbanes]

@@gloverfox9135 and that doesn’t mean anyone can just go anywhere in Europe. It only applies to members of the EU and several others.

[@gloverfox9135]

@@baneofbanes Yeah but it’s the closest thing we have to open borders

[@baneofbanes]

@@gloverfox9135 it’s not even close to what they’re talking about.

[@MrSneakyGunz]

Hilarious 😂 @WilliamSpaniel is a Witch! 🧙‍♂️

[@morpheus24]

I just thought of something - if you have a problem with the manager in a managed democracy, who do you talk to? 1:27

[@stooge389]

2:53 just like, officially, ALL Soviet Union citizens had the constitutional right to free speech.

[@damackabet.4611]

Most of the west claim the same today, many of them dont actually have it if not all of them outside usa.

[@jimmythe-gent]

Good thing we don’t try & remove our political opponents from the ballots here in the US…

[@view1st]

Or engage in gerrymandering.

[@jimmythe-gent]

@@view1st 💯

[@josiahsmith7059]

or send false electors to steal an election

[@runajain5773]

You only have one opponent and central control party

[@JWMCMLXXX]

Thank you very much for this point of view. This helped me understand the system here in Thailand. Bit of a relief to see some good in bad elections.

[@AdeptAnalytic]

Thanks William

[@Steve_Hayden]

2:59 is that Steven Seagal ? On the left side at 2:55 - 3:01

[@XIIchiron78]

Worth noting even in "real" democracies we often don't have competitive elections due to things like vote splitting. Actually, how bout a video on that? It's like entirely game theory and also explains basically every political problem we have...

[@tonenuff]

3:09 is that Steven Seagal???

[@arithmetikmilitantpoetry9548]

Poor Putin had to leave his bunker and shake those grubby mits for the cameras... Ewww you can tell how uncomfortable he is after casting his ballot. The whole affair comes across like an ad for hand sanitizer. Good point about Govmn. Having to the official numbers, despite what they publish.

[@frankknudsen842]

When spaniels were in the WH 😂 . Y, that's funny. idk . Sir' please continue your leveled content. Thanks ever much '

[@Holammer]

Worth mentioning how something went horribly wrong for Lukashenko in the Belarusian 2020 election. Things got a little bit too democratic when the opposition did not follow the script.

[@neolithictransitrevolution427]

If theres one advantage of a one party state, its that the problems are never the last governments fault. If there are two advantages, it's that there are never any problems.

[@oleopathic]

Plato is my friend, Aristotle is my friend, but my greatest friend is truth.

[@akumaking1]

What happened to meritocracy in politics?

[@asavelakuse6865]

China has it at least due to Confucius

[@KoopstaKlicca]

Meritocracy has never been in politics lol

[@kanweiwu7339]

Trump envies so much on Putin’s position in Russia.

[@badluck5647]

Trump - Putin 2024 🇷🇺🇨🇳 Make Autocrats Great Again MAGA

[@J.C...]

Here for the "we already know who's going to win in the US" comments and the stolen election claims. 🤦🤣

[@Mike-ig2zq]

No​@@u2beuser714

[@haramsaddam238]

It’s naive to think our system is infallible

[@badluck5647]

​@@haramsaddam238To rig the system in America, it would require Democrat observers, Republican observers, election workers, Secretary of States, the media, and anyone with internet access to watch the vote tallying to all agree to work together to rig an election and to keep it a secret.

[@Mike-ig2zq]

@@haramsaddam238 You didn't win ?

[@haramsaddam238]

@@Mike-ig2zq No, I just have a basic understanding of civics and world history

[@darkestcloister]

do protests effect change? or what is the most effective way to cause political change?

[@darkgalaxy5548]

Why do they even bother?

[@mattipiirainen7440]

Is there no lines on a map?

[@PrimetimeD]

Back when Spaniels were in the White House. Nice. ;)

[@christopherneufelt8971]

Unpopular opinion: in western democracies you have many parties but only one lodge.

[@sebastianmachadocph]

There are inaccuracies at about 13:10 about the system in China. The NPC and the NPCSC include a number of non-CCP members.

[@badluck5647]

When the CCP chooses which parties can run, then why even have other parties?

[@JurzGarz]

Those are classic “bloc parties” that exist to create a fig leaf of pluralism; in reality, those parties all swear allegiance to the Communist Party and follow its leadership. For all practical purposes, they are organs of the communist party.

[@Gubers]

Aslo applies to Democrat party

[@roberttwardowski9711]

Correct Cockerr Spaniel..

[@user-ns7xr5fq1i]

What's actually the difference between democratic party and republican party in the us? Just curious 🤔

[@bobbiodobbio2-UA]

Mostly a radical slightly more left and a conservative slightly more right difference.

[@user-ns7xr5fq1i]

@@bobbiodobbio2-UA ok

[@damackabet.4611]

Democratic party is evil, and republican party is full of weak and stupid politicians. That is the main difference. In terms of economics the democrats love red tape, and while not directly communist yet, they have numerous socialists and communist voters in their ranks so it does influencr some. Though the big issues are mostly social problems, however economy has taken the front page of topics as of late due to how bad biden fucked it up. Democrats hate tradition, whites, christianity, and anything to do with conservative values. Republicans are pro tradition, pro gun rights and other constitutional rights while democrats tend to hate the constitution. Republicans also far moee likely to ne religious and have religious political stances so anti abortion, and the like. In terms of punishment for criminals, the drmocrats want to basically not punish them at all, and enact laws to not arrest them or charge them with crimes. Where as republicans are far more likely to punish criminals and be for the death penalty for severe crimes like murder or rape. As for border policy, republicans believe borders exist and want to protect it, democrats want to let anyone into the nation and let foreigners vote in order to fortify elections with the new voters. Foreign policy is complicated, same with war policy. So i cant really give you an answer there, as it varies depending on every nation. Both parties are pacifist and war hawks depending on situation and nation in question. Republicans tend to be american first policy and more isolationist though now today with trump. Basically if you love the usa and hope it prospers you are probably a republican. If you hate the usa and want to see all whites die or suffer than your a democrat. Only democrats who dont want that are morons who just vote democrat because it is what they always did, or because of media lies and not wanting the very idea of being called racist to exist, despite the fact that most democrat politicians punish whites and to lesser extent east asians like japanese/korean/chinese who do well in society, for some reason the democrats demonize success, so whites and some east asians get punished such as colleges not taking smarter asians over blacks or other non whites.

[@lacasadelvideojuego3880]

@@bobbiodobbio2-UAwith the same rich people 🙃 same families lineage that dates from 1800s…

[@lordcirrhosisofliver]

@@user-ns7xr5fq1i the difference between the dems and reps is the difference between chocolate and double chocolate.