Benevolent dictatorship
A benevolent dictatorship is a government in which an authoritarian leader exercises absolute political power over the state but is perceived to do so with regard for benefit of the population as a whole, standing in contrast to the decidedly malevolent stereotype of a dictator who focuses on their and their supporters' self-interests. A benevolent dictator may allow for some civil liberties or democratic decision-making to exist, such as through public referenda or elected representatives with limited power, and often makes preparations for a transition to genuine democracy during or after their term. It might be seen as a republican form of enlightened despotism.
The label has been applied to leaders such as Mustafa Kemal Atatürk of Turkey, Josip Broz Tito of Yugoslavia, Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore, and France-Albert René of Seychelles.
Characteristics
The idea of benevolent dictatorship has a long history, dating back to various positively perceived rulers during ancient times, where authoritarian leadership was the norm. Modern usage of the term in a world society where the norm leans much more toward democracy can be traced back to John Stuart Mill in his classic On Liberty. Although he argued in favor of democratic rights for individuals, he did make an exception for what he called today's developing countries:We may leave out of consideration those backward states of society in which the race itself may be considered as in its nonage. Despotism is legitimate in dealing with barbarians, provided the end be their improvement . Liberty has no application to any state of things anterior to the time when mankind have become capable of being improved by free and equal discussion.
Benevolent dictator was also a popular rhetoric in the early 20th century as a support for colonial rulings. A British colonial official called Lord Hailey said in the 1940s "A new conception of our relationship...may emerge as part of the movement for the betterment of the backward peoples of the world." Hailey conceived economic development as a justification for colonial power.
In the Spanish language, the pun word dictablanda is sometimes used for a dictatorship conserving some of the liberties and mechanisms of democracy. The pun is that, in Spanish, dictadura is "dictatorship", dura is "hard" and blanda is "soft". Analogously, the same pun is made in Portuguese as ditabranda or ditamole. In February 2009, the Brazilian newspaper Folha de S.Paulo ran an editorial classifying the military dictatorship in Brazil as a "ditabranda", creating controversy.
Mancur Olson characterized benevolent dictators as "not like the wolf that preys on the elk, but more like the rancher who makes sure his cattle are protected and are given water".
Modern examples
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk
During his leadership of the Turkish War of Independence from 1919 to 1923 and his presidency from 1923 to 1938, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk is credited with removing foreign influence from former Ottoman territory, and is looked fondly upon as the founder of modern Turkey in the form of a republic. He presided over a series of reforms such as allowing women to vote, agrarian land reform, removal of Islam as the state religion and the establishment of secularism, modernization of the language and education, and the adoption of a Western-based law instead of sharia.Josip Broz Tito
Although Josip Broz Tito led the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia as Prime Minister and President from 1944 until his death in 1980 under what many criticized as authoritarian rule,he was widely popular and was "seen by most as a benevolent dictator". He was a popular public figure both in Yugoslavia and abroad. Viewed as a unifying symbol, his internal policies maintained the peaceful coexistence of the nations of the Yugoslav federation. The country's economy underwent a period of prosperity under the system of workers' self-management devised by his deputy Edvard Kardelj. Tito gained further international attention as the chief leader of the Non-Aligned Movement.
This perception has changed significantly in right-wing circles following the dissolution of Yugoslavia and the examination of various crimes committed by the Yugoslav Partisans in the aftermath of World War II and the League of Communists of Yugoslavia during its rule, namely the Bleiburg repatriations, the Foibe massacres, Tezno massacre, Macelj massacre, Kočevski Rog massacre, Barbara Pit massacre and the communist purges in Serbia in 1944–45. However, Tito's legacy as the leader of the movement which liberated Yugoslavia from Nazi German and Fascist Italian occupation is still officially respected in all former Yugoslav countries.
Although maintaining nominal leadership over the Party, State and Army, Tito skillfully used his personal authority and popularity to decentralize and "liberalize" Yugoslavia through the careful process of "Federating the federation", as defined by his close advisor and collaborator Vladimir Bakarić.
From the early 1960s he supported a series of reforms, such as the adoption of a new Constitution in 1963, a large-scale Economic Reform program in 1965, further amendments to the Constitution in 1966, 1968, 1971 and finally the adoption of a new Constitution in 1974, which was hailed as the beginning of a truly self-managing, democratic society.
The 1971 Constitutional Amendments introduced a rotating Presidency consisting of eight members, one from each Republic and Province, instead of the classic centralized-style office of President which was in place before decentralization.
The 1974 Constitution guaranteed de jure "...the right to self-determination, including secession..." to every Republic, reducing the power of the central, federal government over the individual governments of each republic, making Yugoslavia a true confederation.
Lee Kuan Yew
Since its independence in 1965, Singapore in just a few decades has transformed from a relatively underdeveloped and impoverished agrarian society into Asia's most developed nation and one of the wealthiest, as a center of aviation, international banking, business, tourism and shipping. Singapore has thus been dubbed as one of the Four Asian Tigers. Lee Kuan Yew and his administration wielded absolute reign over Singaporean politics until 1990, while his People's Action Party has remained in power ever since, controlling Singapore as a dominant-party state. Lee is therefore often called a 'benevolent dictator.' As a leader who was in power for thirty-one years from 1959 until 1990, he implemented some laws that were deemed to be autocratic, and attempted to dismantle political opposition. Despite this, he is reportedly often looked upon favorably by Singaporeans for his transformation of Singapore. Peter Popham of The Independent called Lee "one of the most successful political pragmatists". Ever since Lee's resignation as Prime Minister in 1990 and his death in 2015, Singapore has undergone democratization with improved rule of law. Despite this, the government of Singapore is still being criticized by other political parties for not allowing complete and unrestricted freedom of speech.France-Albert René
Although France-Albert René seized power in a coup, his one-party socialist rule in Seychelles rapidly developed the country since its independence. His administration established various administrative, public and educational institutions, created a universal health care system, and brought the national literacy rate to 90%.Paul Kagame
Once commander of rebel force during Rwandan civil war, Paul Kagame was sworn in as the president of Rwanda in 2000. Despite the accusation of political repression, he is considered very successful in transforming Rwanda. Kagame launched a national development programme called Vision 2020,Its main objective is transforming the country into a knowledge-based middle-income country, thereby reducing poverty, health problems and making the nation united and democratic. Under his rule Rwanda became one of the cleanest countries in Africa, his rule also oversaw economic growth and a significant reduction of poverty. Under his rule, Rwanda is also called the "Singapore of Africa" due to his effort modernizing post-war Rwanda which he also dubbed as "African Lee Kuan Yew".