: Re: what techniques or approaches can I use to explore distasteful concepts while also making them necessary? In my story democracy crumbles in a nation, replaced by a powerful dictatorship. Our world

@Kristi637

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Ironically, you have a better chance of making this sympathetic if you include the flaws, failures and downfalls. Nothing turns people off more than feeling like they're being spoonfed something nasty.

A lot depends on your story arc and narrative line --what you've described is only the setting. If I were writing this, I'd likely center it around a) the charismatic leader himself, b) people in his inner circle or c) a resistance group loyal to the old government. In any of the scenarios, I'd start with the protagonists holding democratic values and ideals, and slowly shedding or losing them in the face of harsh realities and pragmatic necessities. You'll want the reader to really deeply feel the loss of freedoms, and yet at the same time understand why they are being sacrificed. I could see a particularly compelling storyline contrasting the dictator's loss/sacrifice of personal relationships and freedoms with his gain of official power.

I, Claudius is a good example of a story featuring a democrat who becomes a reluctant dictator --the old BBC miniseries is excellent. Heinlein's The Moon is a Harsh Mistress depicts a revolutionary cabal forced to sacrifice some of their most cherished values and freedoms in the name of their society's survival --I think it's a particularly effective story arc because Heinlein's own sympathies are so libertarian. And then read Plato's Republic for an astute psychological study of governments ranging from benevolent dictatorship to tyranny.

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