get corrupted by their power, and/or when they get killed or too ill they don't have anyone on the bench who can take their place.
Idi Amin and many victorious revolutionary cum presidentes are of the first type.
Chavez and Castro are of the second type- while they are strongmen, they are not 'Saddam Hussein' types or have extensive secret police presences. However, both are ill and approaching the point where they can't serve anymore. Without those 'strong man' leaders the country collapses or roils with civil strife.

That is why democracy, which is often crazy, has a distinct advantage: if your leader dies or gets too corrupt, there is a replacement and a process available. You're not stuck with only 1 guy who can do the job.

What a paradox.

Democracy is still a new concept in Russia...a country that was ruled as a private plantation for centuries under the Czars and then replaced by the oligarchy of the Soviets for most of the 20th century. Authoritarian rule has been ingrained in the culture...especially during tough times...people turn to a "father figure" to fix the problems. Today Putin is that father figure but I'm still encouraged by the steady progress of democracy in Russia...as a child of the cold war and "duck and cover" I feel we live in a better world today in regards to where things are at inside Russia. Hopefully we'll see more progress in the years ahead.

As far as Pakistan...this is a manufactured state...with its boundries drawn arbitrarily by the British and still lacks a national identity. People identify by their tribes or region...and add in decades of corruption and authoritarian rule and it's no surprise that people in that part of the world consider it the status quo. Between the strife going on across the border in Afghanistan...and inside with the ongoing drone attacks on one side and the on-going war with India on the other side, this is a country full of uncertainty and reliant on its authoritarian government to keep the country from slipping into total anarchy. I'll bet if they conducted this poll in Yemen they'd get similar results as well...