Strong Dictatorship Versus A Weak Democracy

[seanman99]

Alright, so during a class today debate topics were being thrown around and the idea that a strong dictatorship is better than is weak democracy became a topic. I can see both sides of the coin for this one but I was wondering what you guys/girls think.

[RNR]

Firstly: define "strong" and "weak" in reference to government.

[Smokey D]

I would always support constitutional democracy except in cases where it was so weak it automatically became a dictatorship.

And yeah, do you mean a weak democracy like one that was unable to enforce its will or one that was unable to maintain its democratic institutions.

[RNR]

Weeeee neeeeeeeeeeeeeed clarity.

[seanman99]

Acutally I'm not very sure. It's pretty vague. I'll try to clear it up.

[PerpetualBurn]

I don't think a dictatorship is inherently better than a democracy. If all the policies and actions are right, then the system of government that imposes them is completely unimportant.

In reality, dictatorships are pretty unlikely to remain benevolent, so democracy is the tie on power that protects the people.

[Scuba_Steve]

for dictatorship, it depends on who is running the country to determine if it is better or not.

[Electronic Wolf]

Benevolent dictatorships are cool.

[griftadan]

depends on the strengths and weaknesses of both. for instance, if it was a "dictator of the people", who was wise and effecient in rule, i would take that over a weak democracy with little ability to enforce the rule of law.

[sexymuffin]

it's all about

the oligarchies

[Apollyon]

depends on the strengths and weaknesses of both. for instance, if it was a "dictator of the people", who was wise and effecient in rule, i would take that over a weak democracy with little ability to enforce the rule of law.

^ This.

[Iskandar]

Once a strong dictatorship is in place, it may rule arbitrarily for a long time, whereas the possibilities for a weak democracy are much more open-ended.

[Chrizzle fo' Shizzle]

I don't understand what "weak democracy" means

Weak meaning the government has little power, or weak meaning that it's a bloated bureaucracy that can't get anything done, or weak meaning it's kind of democratic, but not really?

cuz realistically I'd vote for the first one in a heatbeat, though living under a strong dictatorship and actually believing the selfless garbage they spew would be kinda cool for a bit, if only for the aesthetics

[Iskandar]

I don't understand what "weak democracy" means

Little power.

[Chrizzle fo' Shizzle]

Then yeah definately weak democracy


Though strong dictatorship would be cool, aethetically speaking

[RNR]

Benevolent dictatorships are cool.

You mean "would be cool" if they existed.

And a democracy with very little power is exactly what I would like. Keep its citizens safe and that's all I want from a government.