Benevolent dictatorship

Josip Broz Tito in 1949

Although Josip Broz Tito led the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia as Prime Minister and President (later President for Life) from 1944 until his death in 1980 under what many criticized as authoritarian rule,[8][9][10][11] he was widely popular and was "seen by most as a benevolent dictator".[2] He was a popular public figure both in Yugoslavia and abroad.[12] Viewed as a unifying symbol,[13] his internal policies maintained the peaceful coexistence of the nations of the Yugoslav federation. The country's economy underwent a period of prosperity under the system of workers' self-management devised by his deputy Edvard Kardelj.[14] Tito gained further international attention as the chief leader of the Non-Aligned Movement.[15]

This perception has changed significantly in right-wing circles following the dissolution of Yugoslavia and the examination of various crimes committed by the Yugoslav Partisans in the aftermath of World War II and the League of Communists of Yugoslavia during its rule, namely the Bleiburg repatriations, the Foibe massacres, Tezno massacre, Macelj massacre, Kočevski Rog massacre, Barbara Pit massacre and the communist purges in Serbia in 1944–45. However, Tito's legacy as the leader of the movement which liberated Yugoslavia from Nazi German and Fascist Italian occupation is still officially respected in all former Yugoslav countries.

Although maintaining nominal leadership over the Party, State and Army, Tito skillfully used his personal authority and popularity to decentralize and "liberalize" Yugoslavia through the careful process of "Federating the federation", as defined by his close advisor and collaborator Vladimir Bakarić.

From the early 1960s he supported a series of reforms, such as the adoption of a new Constitution in 1963, a large-scale Economic Reform program in 1965, further amendments to the Constitution in 1966, 1968, 1971 and finally the adoption of a new Constitution in 1974, which was hailed as the beginning of a truly self-managing, democratic society.

The 1971 Constitutional Amendments introduced a rotating Presidency consisting of eight members, one from each Republic and Province, instead of the classic centralized-style office of President which was in place before decentralization.

The 1974 Constitution guaranteed de jure "...the right to self-determination, including secession..." to every Republic, reducing the power of the central, federal government over the individual governments of each republic, making Yugoslavia a true confederation.

During his leadership of the Turkish War of Independence from 1919 to 1923 and his presidency from 1923 to 1938, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk is credited with removing foreign influence from former Ottoman territory, and is looked fondly upon as the founder of modern Turkey in the form of a republic.[16] He presided over a series of reforms such as allowing women to vote, agrarian land reform, removal of Islam as the state religion and the establishment of secularism, modernization of the language and education, and the adoption of a Western-based law instead of sharia.[17]

Lee Kuan Yew in 1965

Since its independence in 1965, Singapore in just a few decades has transformed from a relatively underdeveloped and impoverished agrarian society into Asia's most developed nation and one of the wealthiest, as a center of aviation, international banking, business, tourism and shipping. Singapore has thus been dubbed as one of the Four Asian Tigers. Lee Kuan Yew and his administration wielded absolute reign over Singaporean politics until 1990, while his People's Action Party has remained in power ever since, controlling Singapore as a dominant-party state. Lee is therefore often called a 'benevolent dictator.'[18] As a leader who was in power for thirty-one years from 1959 until 1990,[19] he implemented some laws that were deemed to be autocratic, and attempted to dismantle political opposition. Despite this, he is reportedly often looked upon favorably by Singaporeans for his transformation of Singapore. Peter Popham of The Independent called Lee "one of the most successful political pragmatists".[20] Ever since Lee's resignation as Prime Minister in 1990 and his death in 2015, Singapore has underwent democratization with improved rule of law.[21] Despite this, the government of Singapore is still being criticized by other political parties for not allowing complete and unrestricted freedom of speech.

Although France-Albert René seized power in a coup, his one-party socialist rule in Seychelles rapidly developed the country since its independence. His administration established various administrative, public and educational institutions, created a universal health care system, and brought the national literacy rate to 90%.[22]

Once commander of rebel force during Rwandan civil war, Paul Kagame was sworn in as the president of Rwanda in 2000. Despite the accusation of political repression, he is considered very successful in transforming Rwanda.[23][24] Kagame launched a national development programme called Vision 2020, Its main objective is transforming the country into a knowledge-based middle-income country, thereby reducing poverty, health problems and making the nation united and democratic. Under his rule Rwanda became one of the cleanest countries in Africa, his rule also oversaw economic growth and a significant reduction of poverty.[25] Under his rule, Rwanda is also called the "Singapore of Africa" due to his effort modernizing post-war Rwanda which he also dubbed as "African Lee Kuan Yew".[26]

This term has been applied to other dictators, whose regimes had generally increased the country's quality of life in some way, but was done at the cost of human rights in some instances. In particular cases, it is used to describe dictators that believe they are fulfilling a historical necessity, as Saddam Hussein had believed.[27] Propaganda used by Saddam's regime used images of him smiling and holding children to support the narrative that he was "a bulwark against anarchy and chaos in difficult times".[28][29] Muammar Gaddafi was another dictator sometimes labelled as benevolent despite his regime's repression of political dissidence.[30] Under Gaddafi's government: healthcare, education, and electricity were free for all people and literacy increased from 10% to 90%; newly-weds would earn 60,000 Libyan dinar (47244 USD) upon their marriage; free housing was provided throughout the country; and a river was constructed to connect major cities throughout the country's desert terrain.[31][32] Use of the term to describe Gaddafi's rule has been used in the context of the modern Libyan slave trade, which some believe could have been stopped by his government. This has sparked some ire from people who believe that excusing his regime based on something that could be provided by any stable government is simply whitewashing his repression.[33]