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faraaz98 | 2 years ago

Those countries are monarchies, yes. I wouldn't call them dictatorships. Based on external optics, I'd say there's a few countries that are technically democracies but give off more dictatorship vibes than the 3 you mentioned

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JumpCrisscross|2 years ago

> Those countries are monarchies, yes. I wouldn't call them dictatorships

Saudi Arabia is a dictatorship and a monarchy. The monarch exercises absolute political power. (Arguably, it’s a tyranny, since its de facto leader, the Crown Prince, doesn’t exercise power through constitutional channels—he isn’t King.)

Qatar and Kuwait are constitutional monarchies with something resembling a legislative counterpoint to the executive. As long as their leaders operate within their constitutions, i.e. don’t dissolve or dominate their legislatures, they aren’t technically dictators.

sudosysgen|2 years ago

That doesn't follow. A monarchy can be constitutional and still be absolute. In Qatar for example, the monarch appoints the cabinet and 1/3 of the parliament, which needs 2/3+1 vote to overrule the prime minister...

No need to dissolve or dominate the legislature, it's both a constitutional and absolute monarchy. It's theoretically but not practically possible for the parliament to limit the king. It's a similar story in Morocco and Kuwait.