However it might be noted that the original feudalism was effectively a bribe paid to warlords to make themselves semi-useful members of society. A culture with the time and technology to build spacecraft is already civilized. Therefore a Feudal Future might be better justified by saying it originated in a coalition of Family Business s rather then being the same kind of thing as the original feudalism.

I'm guessing Romanticism Versus Enlightenment

People alive today have lived under dictatorships and know there's nothing good about them. There aren't any genuine feudal societies left.

Better Ermine Cape Effect ?

More seriously, feudalism at least can be a serious attempt to make a lawful society whereas "presidential dictatatorship" is Asskicking Equals Authority.

Or you can just say "Better Ermine Cape Effect." Probably more or less true.

And there is the point that dictators actually are going out of the way to be dictators. Nobles are not asked beforehand whether they want to be political livestock or targets for poisoning. They can just be taking the role society gave them. Paul Atreides never wanted to be the Kwaitz Haderech and Miles Vorkinsigan paid more then enough for being born a Vor. Making a character who is a noble is in a way, no different then making a character who is from a given ethnicity. Indeed it is easy to make a noble hero while showing a tyrannical aristocratic system whereas it is hard to make a hero who is a tyrant that is seeking to Take Over The World. The first can be a White Sheep, and the second is simply a villain.