Fig leaves of democratic procedure to hide the nakedness of Stalinist dictatorship.
PoliticsDemocracyAuthoritarianismDictatorshipLegitimacyPropaganda
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Kennan criticizes the Soviet Union for using democratic rituals to mask authoritarian reality.
- In plain terms
- Dictatorships sometimes pretend to follow democracy to hide the truth.
- What can you take from it?
- Democratic forms can be used to hide authoritarian substance.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Can a regime be both tyrannical and democratic?
- How do we spot false elections?
Another view
This view overlooks cases where democratic procedures genuinely exist under dictatorship.
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