Re:The new authoritarianism
by Alex_Notchenko on Monday March 23, 2015 @02:11PM
(#9252435)
Guriev is actually from Russia. He was exiled in 2013.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/opinion/article/gurievs-exile-...
Re:The new authoritarianism
by griffinmahon on Monday March 23, 2015 @02:18PM
(#9252489)
In the same way, the point in the the third paragraph about incumbents always winning simulated elections in these countries is moot. Incumbents also literally almost always win elections in the US! Especially at the Congressional level, which is where real material changes are affected (or not).
Take former US president Jimmy Carter: "As a matter of fact, of the 92 elections that we've monitored, I would say that the election process in Venezuela is the best in the world." (http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/oct/03/why-us-...)
Compare to the US's Bush vs. Gore vote fiasco where a court decided the vote. (And where the winner failed to win a plurality of the popular vote. Not to mention that most votes don't count anyway, due to swing states; and racist voter disenfranchisement.) Also compare to the powerful Bush and Clinton families.
These authors are from France and the US. If they were serious about improving the world, they'd look at their immensely powerful militant nations. Not far weaker ones.