If there is any voting to be done to choose who obtains those positions of power then it's just a popularity contest for the most skillful at hiding their intentions, those most entertaining and narcissistic that end up winning.

This happens in the west because we're so far detached from power. Millions of us vote on who will occupy a single position near the top of the pile, with no way to actually know our representative. In places like China and North Korea you vote for your direct representative, literally the person directly above you in the heirarchy, meaning you can actually know what they're like as a person, because they are a peer that you work with, not a member of the ruling party(/parties) that's been parachuted in to a seat representing millions who will never know them.