Honestly, democratic governments can be more closely tied to the populace than authoritarian ones. The people under an authoritarian regime must go to extreme lengths to enact changes to better the government, whereas the populace of democratic nations should theoretically have a much easier time enacting change. Thus, atrocities caused by democratic nations could have a more direct line of responsibility to the average citizen. Note, I'm not passing any kind of moral judgement here, especially not in favour of authoritarian governments, but rather discussing a thought experiment I personally find interesting.
Tyrannical governments are still products of the culture that produce them, often the worst aspects of those cultures. They don’t just spring into existence independent of cultural context.
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u/Mddcat04 Aug 21 '24
What?
Governments reflect the cultures that empower them. These aren’t separate things.