The despot choice

Bret Stephens talks about the recent elections in Russia and Venezuela and asks why some countries and cultures choose despots. I think the answer can be found in ancient Rome. Early on Rome was rule by a somewhat democratically elected senate, but when the city and later the empire was under duress a dictator would be chosen to get them through the crisis. It was in part a reflection on the failure of the Romans to establish an executive branch of government, that led them to voluntarily give up democracy in a crisis. As the power of the empire spread it seemed that someone was always thinking the government would be in crises without their leadership and the selection process for the dictator was no longer democratic but by force of arms or poison.

So the initial requirement for most dictatorships is a feeling of crises that only one person can handle. There are always some men who think they are indispensable. The success of democracy requires that no one man comes to think that for more than the term of his office. That i why term limits are attractive to many who believe in the power of democracy.