This week’s readings reminded me of our discussions in class last week, specifically our discussion of the importance of perception, spin, and the media. As highlighted in Andrade’s article “The Perennially Difficult Debate Around Tyrannicide”, while many other circumstances and factors must be at play for tyrannicide to actually be a viable option for a more democratic future, to “many sensible people” as Andrade calls them, tyrannicide makes sense. While not a one size fits all solution, when the dictator is actually disliked and there are suitable, more democratic successors available, tyrannicide can actually be effective. Reading this article myself, I thought Andrade made several valid points and began to see how tyrannicide could be a useful tool for spurring democracy.
Then I read George’s piece. In “Distinguishing Classical Tyrannicide from Modern Terrorism” George highlights the hypocrisy of our view of tyrannicide. While we view political assassinations as terrible acts, we praise tyrannicide as a beacon of democracy. George states that we have this view because we see tyrannicide as a public good and think of assassinations as acts committed for personal gain. This made me question who gets to draw that line and if it ever really stays in one place. We’ve discussed at great lengths the importance of perception and the media’s role in that last week, and I couldn’t help but draw the comparison with these readings. Isn’t tyrannicide just murder with a positive spin put on it? Who gets to say when murder is or isn’t justifiable?
I like how you ended your post with a question on such a controversial topic because it really puts the question into perspective of when is murder really justifiable when it comes to tyrannicide and political assassination. I agree with what you have to say about who decides if the murder of a person is justifiable because there are so many factors some can be the fate of a whole country and some can be someones private motives
I completely agree with your idea that in order for tyrannicide to be feasible, the stars have to align. If there’s not a suitable replacement, the country in question could wind up in shambles. Your point about tyrannicide going forward in an era where media influences public opinion to such a high degree is also very interesting, and I think that would make an interesting discussion topic in class.