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Why do authoritarian states have 'Democratic' or 'People's' in their names? (sh.itjust.works)
submitted 2 months ago by to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world
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[–] 24 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (2 children)

I can't speak for all nations but the Democratic Republic of the Congo was an actual democratic republic when it was named.

But it was too socialist for the US, who intervened with military force, executed the elected leader and installed a puppet dictator that was loyal to US corporate interests.

Looking it up now, Congo has removed Democratic from its name but still calls itself a Republic. A unitary executive appoints ministers, and a prime minister leads parliament. It does have multi-party elections, but, to quote Wikipedia, opposition parties are allowed, but are widely considered to have no chance of gaining power.

The current leader, Sassou Nguesso, is trying to change constitutional law so he can run another term.

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  • [–] 1 point 2 months ago

    Looking it up now, Congo has removed Democratic from its name but still calls itself a Republic.

    There's two countries called congo, the democratic Republic of Congo and Republic of Congo. Both still exist today, there was no name change.

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