Markup View

Author: Topazan

Aug 18th 2011 at 6:28:09 AM

^^ I didn't include a description because I'm still working out how to expand this from the laconic.  The idea is that in the western world, freedom is a concept associated with democracies, whereas more autocratic forms of government are associated with repression and totalitarianism.  These dictators break the pattern by granting their populace as much or more freedom as a representative government would.

I'm not expert in political science, but it seems unlikely in the real world for a couple of reasons.  Most modern dictatorships find it necessary to employ an oppressive police presence to maintain their power, reducing personal freedom in the process.  One thing that makes it interesting in fiction is the motivation of the ruler.  He apparently believes that people can be trusted to run their own lives, but not their own government.

^ Please don't get too caught up on semantics.  This is not necessarily about the political philosophy of Libertarianism, I just used that word to indicate that the population enjoys a relatively high degree of liberty under these dictators.  If you have a better idea for a name, please suggest it.

That said, I think that quote in no way counts against Vetinari's inclusion.  That "One man, one vote" thing only shows that Vetinari is, in fact, a dictator with absolute fiat.  It's what he does with that fiat that decides whether or not he counts for this trope.  Seeing as Ankh-Morpork enjoys free markets, freedom of press, freedom of religion, rights of the accused, and a multitude of other protections, I'd say he counts.  He constantly threatens to abuse his power, but aside from that throw away joke about the mimes, he never actually does.