>>512095589Dictatorships are THE most unstable system of government. It is essentially an absolute monarchy masquerading as a democracy (reminder that Russia, Iran, and China all claim to be democratic). Dictatorship’s denial of monarchy and its democratic facade deprive it of a stable succession system. Simply passing the mantle to a son is harder to justify in a state claiming to be democratic. This leaves the dictator looking for an heir among the elite but this will only lead to elite infighting. If members of the elite know/feel that the heir might get rid of them, they might hatch a coup while the ruler is still alive or wait until the ruler is out of the picture (dead or retired) and then attack the heir. Even appointing an heir is dangerous for the dictator. Take the case of José Eduardo dos Santos, former president of Angola, he peacefully handled over power to his VP, but after dos Santos died, his daughter came under investigation by the same man dos Santos appointed. This is why leaders like Putin, Xi and the Ayatollah keep their successions under wraps, because they know the risks of sparking elite infighting prematurely (at best leading to a political purge, at worse a civil war).