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Marcel Dirsus, a political scientist and author specializing in regime instability, discusses the intricate factors that allow dictators to maintain power. He delves into historical case studies, including Gaddafi and Mugabe, highlighting the psychological dynamics of tyranny. Dirsus and journalist Hannah Lucinda Smith explore the dual role of social media in protests and the complexities of modern authoritarian rule. They also address the fragility of tyrants amid civil resistance and the resilience of democratic systems.
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Quick takeaways
- Dictators often disguise their tyranny under a veneer of democratic processes, creating a complex relationship with public support and governance.
- The psychological traits of paranoia and brutality in dictators can lead to increasingly violent measures as they become more desperate to retain power.
Deep dives
The Nature of Tyranny
The podcast discusses the attributes and consequences of various forms of tyranny, emphasizing that not all autocrats fit a single mold. It explores dictators like Tayyip Erdogan and Alexander Vucic, highlighting that they often present themselves as democratic leaders while practicing flawed democratic processes or outright tyranny. The speaker introduces an expansive definition of tyranny, which allows for the examination of both historical and contemporary figures who maintain power by satisfying a small elite. This approach provides a framework for understanding how such leaders manage to stay in power despite doing harm to larger populations.
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