I can’t imagine a worse insult to a dictator trying to preserve the illusion of free elections in his country than to congratulate him on his landslide victory before the election is even over.
They don’t give a shit. The elections are for ambitious people in Russia to think “if I’m the next Navalny, I can beat him!”. This illusion stops those ambitious people from an actual revolution and is a huge part of a dictatorship.
You’re right that they don’t give a fuck, but I don’t think the reasoning really runs that deep.
If you have an election, no matter how corrupt or coerced, then any assertion that you’re an autocratic dictator is an “opinion” requiring evidence to support it.
This way, it says democracy on the tin, so everyone will behave as though it is that, despite no one buying it.
I can’t imagine a worse insult to a dictator trying to preserve the illusion of free elections in his country than to congratulate him on his landslide victory before the election is even over.
Well done
They don’t give a shit. The elections are for ambitious people in Russia to think “if I’m the next Navalny, I can beat him!”. This illusion stops those ambitious people from an actual revolution and is a huge part of a dictatorship.
You’re right that they don’t give a fuck, but I don’t think the reasoning really runs that deep.
If you have an election, no matter how corrupt or coerced, then any assertion that you’re an autocratic dictator is an “opinion” requiring evidence to support it.
This way, it says democracy on the tin, so everyone will behave as though it is that, despite no one buying it.