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Comment by smokeyj | Hacker News Reader

What does a republic get you that a dictatorship couldn't do more efficiently?

I did it guys. I'm finally enlightened.

Republics and dictatorships are overlapping sets; in fact the instance of the latter from which the term derives was a designed-in temporary state of one of the best-known ancient examples of the former.

You probably meant something like “democratic republic” or the not-quite-equivalent “representative democracy” instead of bare “republic”.

> What does a republic get you that a dictatorship couldn't do more efficiently?

We're wayyyy off on a tangent here, but the removal of an unpopular leader from office...

Nah man, a dictatorship is capable of removing an unpopular leader from office more efficiently than any other form of government. Whether it's likely to or not is a different question!

You're talking about a coup or revolution. If you want to say that, I think the efficiency of a coup or revolution doesn't vary according to the government system that is getting attacked. The efficiency at which such attempts operate are a function of how organized they are.

No, I'm talking about an unpopular dictator simply resigning (because he is unpopular) and appointing his replacement! Highly efficient.

I guess hence your qualifier "whether it's likely". I'd find that even less likely than a revolution, but I have no idea what the real actual statistics are. Would be interesting to see data on coups vs resignations vs stayed in power until death or retirement.

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