Benevolent non-democratic government?

[CountPeter]

I would check out the obscure ideologies thread, but a few examples that come to mind would be Enlightened Absolutism and perhaps Demarchy.

 

[manav95]

I think a Russia where Tsar Nicholas 2 dies early and gets replaced by Michael would be a good start. Michael strives to maintain the power of the Tsar while also appeasing the peasants, workers and socialist intellectuals. He thus turns Russia into a meritocracy modeled on China, where people are allowed to advance to the highest levels of society in either civil service or the military. This reduces the clout of the nobility and enables the Tsar to be surrounded by people loyal to him and are competent, as they would advance solely on those characteristics alone.

Ofc, the nobility and radical intellectuals would be discontented. The former would try to depose Michael 5-10 years in, which would be crushed by competent generals from the common class. After pacifying the nobility and keeping them restrained, the intellectuals would still be a threat and he would face some assassination attempts. In response, Michael could allow freedom of speech and dissent, enabling the intellectuals to speak freely as long as they didn't plot to overthrow or kill him.

He can then take advantage of their ideas to make Russia better and more prosperous and claim all the credit for it, solidifying his absolute power. Thus we get a benevolent dictatorship in the style of Peter the Great and Catherine. This seems a bit tricky given the staunch conservatism of the Romanovs, but if Michael can be influenced by the thought of the UK Tories like Gladstone, he could establish a meritocracy allowing the masses to theoretically rise in status and income.

 

[Modern Imperialism]

I think a Russia where Tsar Nicholas 2 dies early and gets replaced by Michael would be a good start. Michael strives to maintain the power of the Tsar while also appeasing the peasants, workers and socialist intellectuals. He thus turns Russia into a meritocracy modeled on China, where people are allowed to advance to the highest levels of society in either civil service or the military. This reduces the clout of the nobility and enables the Tsar to be surrounded by people loyal to him and are competent, as they would advance solely on those characteristics alone.

Ofc, the nobility and radical intellectuals would be discontented. The former would try to depose Michael 5-10 years in, which would be crushed by competent generals from the common class. After pacifying the nobility and keeping them restrained, the intellectuals would still be a threat and he would face some assassination attempts. In response, Michael could allow freedom of speech and dissent, enabling the intellectuals to speak freely as long as they didn't plot to overthrow or kill him.

He can then take advantage of their ideas to make Russia better and more prosperous and claim all the credit for it, solidifying his absolute power. Thus we get a benevolent dictatorship in the style of Peter the Great and Catherine. This seems a bit tricky given the staunch conservatism of the Romanovs, but if Michael can be influenced by the thought of the UK Tories like Gladstone, he could establish a meritocracy allowing the masses to theoretically rise in status and income.

I see this being more likely to happen in the USSR then by a Tsar regime

 

[Deleted member 107190]

I think you can get this if one of Torrijos's more sane acolytes takes over in Panama instead of Noriega. Torrijos was always a pretty liberal autocrat, so I could see Panama turning out this way.

 

[authenticity]

Japan has always been pretty urbanized and educated population those even before industrialization

You must be kidding - only 5% of the population lived in urban areas by the time of Meiji kakumei. Commoners didn't have last names, much less a formal education.

Even the formal training of samurai-cum/civil servants under the Tokugawa period was questionable - memorising texts they didn't always even understand (similar to memorising latin phrases in catholic education in Europe), lagging far behind the meritocracy and higher education in Joseon and imperial examinations in China.

It wasn't until Meiji introduced mandatory elementary school attendance based on non-buddhist/confucian curriculum - which was definitely a game changer for Japan's productivity and consolidation of power.

 

[Gukpard]

You got the dictatorship of the new state, from 37 until 45 in Brazil. Vargas was extremely popular to the point that he was removed in 1945 because he was the favorite to win the free election after the war, and this didn't prevented him from running in 1950 and getting elected.

 

[authenticity]

Could there be a non-democratic country that respects individual and economic rights to the same level as Western Europe or the United States? People are allowed to speak their minds, have private businesses, invest, move around, no censorship, religious freedom, women’s rights, even gay rights, and etc. They just can’t vote or hold the highest offices. They can be appointed or earn position through merit. That is acceptable but they can’t get in through elections. Living standards must be considered the same as the first world which is the easier part considering the gulf oil rich countries. Could a nation like this develop?

Places that come close to the description and with GDP/capita similar to OECD: Monarchies with a functioning legislative branch, but an executive branch under the monarch (Monaco, Brunei, Bahrain, Qatar) and Muslim countries with dual civil law (sharia law only for family matters). We also have Chinese SARs (Macau, HK) and British Crown dependencies where effective democracy is questioned by some.