# Most realistic depiction of dictatorship in sci-fi?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-realistic-depiction-of-dictatorship-in-sci-fi/937893>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [March 14, 2021, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-realistic-depiction-of-dictatorship-in-sci-fi/937893 "2021-03-14T18:52:22Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\
**Post date:** [March 17, 2021, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-realistic-depiction-of-dictatorship-in-sci-fi/937893/22 "2021-03-17T00:04:14Z")

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Ankh-Morpork has a one-man-one-vote system. Vetinari is the man and he has the vote.

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**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\
**Post date:** [March 21, 2021, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-realistic-depiction-of-dictatorship-in-sci-fi/937893/23 "2021-03-21T03:21:47Z")

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Much of Japanese manga/anime reflects the attitude that dictatorship is bad but war is worse. Naruto is set in a world with basically feudal structures.

The [isekai](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isekai) light novel [How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_a_Realist_Hero_Rebuilt_the_Kingdom) (also part of the office worker superhero genre) is influenced by Machiavelli (good), but since it centers around the ruler it doesn’t give a detailed take of life under autocracy. That’s a pretty common perspective in fantasy to be honest. The author also depletes his insight in the first couple of volumes.

[Spy X Family](https://www.viz.com/shonenjump/chapters/spy-x-family?locale=en) is a comedy manga set in a cold war eastern European country. Or maybe a pseudo-Soviet Union, not sure. I don’t know how realistic the depiction is, but I find it highly entertaining.

The endearing [Spice and Wolf](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spice_and_Wolf) depicts economics in a medieval/feudal world fairly well, from the perspective of a traveling merchant and his new companion. But here’s the problem with the OP’s request. Works that depict politics tend to be about rulers. Works that depict commoners like Spice and Wolf might take authoritarian rule as a setting, but they tend to cover a wider range of concerns. Because if they were about politics, they would focus more on the rulers.

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