# how many dictators? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 10, 2003, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-dictators/167782 "2003-04-10T14:11:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![vanilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f19dbf/32.png) [@vanilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vanilla)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2003, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-dictators/167782/1 "2003-04-10T14:11:36Z")
How many murderous dictators are in power right now? ---
**Author:** ![kpm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c57346/32.png) [@kpm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kpm)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2003, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-dictators/167782/2 "2003-04-10T14:20:37Z")
The guy in North Korea is one. Maybe the guy in Pakistan. There are a lot of non-elected rulers in the middle east but not all of them are murderous. I read somewhere that only Qatar and Israel right now have real democracy in the middle east. There are a few dictators left in Central and South America but I can’t remember which countries are democratic now and which are not. ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2003, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-dictators/167782/3 "2003-04-10T16:04:10Z")
This question was asked and answered [in this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=148036&highlight=how+many+dictators). Caution: This thread was created before the moderators’ crackdown on politics in GQ. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2003, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-dictators/167782/4 "2003-04-10T16:28:29Z")
Actually, looking at **jklann** ’s thread, I have a critique: a country can be “unfree” and NOT ruled by a “dictator”. It may be at a bad point in social evolution, and the guy in charge just took over from years of dictatorship/colonial rule/anarchy; or the country is currently intervened by an occupier or beset by terrorist cells; or it may be in a state of virtual anarchy and the President only rules the space within a 10 minute drive of the Palace. ---
**Author:** ![Dogface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@Dogface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogface)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2003, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-dictators/167782/5 "2003-04-10T17:21:50Z")
Well, in the last bag of spuds I bought, three of them were pretty long and thin. ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2003, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-dictators/167782/6 "2003-04-10T19:15:56Z")
Didn’t anyone else want to answer the title? “How many dictators…” “…does it take to change a light bulb?” ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2003, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-dictators/167782/7 "2003-04-10T21:35:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by JRDelirious \* > **Actually, looking at jklann’s thread, I have a critique: a country can be “unfree” and NOT ruled by a “dictator”.** No argument here. In fact, I _did_ exclude some unfree countries such as monarchies, “party dictatorships” (China) and countries in a state of anarchy (Somalia). There will always be some questionable calls around the margins. The important point, I think, is that there _are_ still a fair number of dictators in the world, and not all of them get a lot of publicity like Moammar, Saddam, and Fidel (I love calling these guys by their first names.)