One thing I’ve often heard/read is that authoritarian governments tend to be limited in competence because it’s hard for important and accurate information to reach the top.
I’ve also heard this, but IMO Western talking points about the superiority of our system should be treated with the same skepticism as Chinese talking points about the superiority of theirs. The null hypothesis here is that “authoritarian” and “democratic” governments aren’t intrinsically different in competence, and variation in government competence is due to other sources.
It’s hard for information to reach the top when messengers are punished for bringing bad news. You can have an authoritarian government that punishes messengers, like the Soviet Union under Stalin, and you can have an authoritarian government that doesn’t punish messengers much, like Singapore under Lee Kuan Yew. You can have a democratic government that punishes messengers, like the US military under George W. Bush, and you can have a democratic government that doesn’t punish messengers much, like the US military under Harry Truman. Western propaganda likes to compare democracies-like-Truman’s to authoritarians-like-Stalin’s.
It’s plausible that democratic governments are better on average about not punishing messengers, but once you know about a government’s propensity to punish messengers, whether it’s “democratic” or “authoritarian” is screened off for this purpose.
How reliable are American messengers? Your link doesn’t paint a very flattering picture.
How reliable are the Chinese messengers? I’m no expert. My rough sense is that they’re not great, but not quite as embarrassing as their American counterparts.
I’ve also heard this, but IMO Western talking points about the superiority of our system should be treated with the same skepticism as Chinese talking points about the superiority of theirs. The null hypothesis here is that “authoritarian” and “democratic” governments aren’t intrinsically different in competence, and variation in government competence is due to other sources.
It’s hard for information to reach the top when messengers are punished for bringing bad news. You can have an authoritarian government that punishes messengers, like the Soviet Union under Stalin, and you can have an authoritarian government that doesn’t punish messengers much, like Singapore under Lee Kuan Yew. You can have a democratic government that punishes messengers, like the US military under George W. Bush, and you can have a democratic government that doesn’t punish messengers much, like the US military under Harry Truman. Western propaganda likes to compare democracies-like-Truman’s to authoritarians-like-Stalin’s.
It’s plausible that democratic governments are better on average about not punishing messengers, but once you know about a government’s propensity to punish messengers, whether it’s “democratic” or “authoritarian” is screened off for this purpose.
How reliable are American messengers? Your link doesn’t paint a very flattering picture.
How reliable are the Chinese messengers? I’m no expert. My rough sense is that they’re not great, but not quite as embarrassing as their American counterparts.