Voters are willingly accepting authoritarian rulers though. They want the heroic leader who fans the flames of sectarianism, uses nationalistic football club support songs in campaigns and wears a shiny uniform. When the economy dives the tried and true solution is the standard scapegoating of whatever visible minority to offset the blame of decades of mismanagement and corruption. Look at all the extreme authoritarian movements taking off in Europe right now. Those are going to appear in a country near you very soon. It's like they don't even need to hide it anymore, these new regimes can openly campaign on a promise to restrict rights and bring back the glory days of yore and get a standing ovation. The reaction to mass surveillance here has been "only illegal immigrants need to worry or criminals".