Oh come on, you want ugly state leaders? I present Merkel, Brown, Chirac. Our very own Brundtland, "the statemother", wasn't exactly a looker either.

I'll turn your argument around; a people's stupidity is the greatest strength of democracy. Why? Because those with brains have every incentive to educate their lesser brothers, because when it comes to the election day, we all have the same power. In a dictatorship, there is no reason to educate people, as the dumb ones don't matter at all. In a democracy, they do. And it's your responsibility to educate them.

Also; corruption. Power corrupts. Democracy is the single form of government that keeps corruption under control, because the system is transparent and people are prosecuted and/or judged by the people. In a dictatorship, that won't happen. That's the reason every single dictatorship will fail. Forget about "benevolent dictators", they're a myth. A dictator won't ever be an improvement over a democracy.