Meanwhile, 44 percent backed the American tradition of competing branches of government as a model, if sometimes “frustrating,” system.
Why would people want to live under an authoritarian’s thumb? It’s rooted, experts say, in a psychological need for security—real or perceived—and a desire for conformity, a goal that becomes even more acute as the country undergoes dramatic demographic and social changes. People also like to obey a strong leader who will protect the group—especially if it is the “right” group whose interests will be protected. Recall the Trump supporter who, during the 2019 government shutdown, complained, “He’s not hurting the people he needs to be hurting.”
Sparta
Maybe the citizens weren’t suffering but their massive slave population definitely was. Heck, the reason they trained so hard was to put down slave revolts.
Sure, but that wasn’t the question.
There is no country, democratic or authoritarian, on this planet that currently doesn’t rely to some extent on exploited, indentured, or enslaved non-citizens, either domestic or abroad.
We need a robotic slave force.
Slavery? Really? That’s your example?
Well yeah, they asked for a simple example, I gave one. What’s wrong with that? The discussion is already in the realm of “military dictatorship” which aren’t exactly known for respecting human rights/freedoms of non-citizena. The question was about the sustainability of such systems for those deemed citizens.