Chapter 1: The Road to Actualized Democracy: A Psychological Exploration

The French Revolution (1789) was followed by Napoleon Bonaparte (1769–1821) crowning himself emperor (1804) and setting up some of his family members as kings and queens around Europe; the Russian Revolution (1917) was followed by a long succession of new “Tsar dictators,” from Stalin (1878–1953) to Putin; the Chinese communist revolution resulted in the “new emperors” of China, beginning with Mao and leading to a country with the largest number of billionaires in the world, ruled by a dictatorship clique; the revolution in Iran resulted in a surface change from one form of dictatorship to another, “The Turban for the Crown” as one commentator put it (Arjomand, 1988); lastly, the Arab Spring has given us turmoil and continued dictatorship, with only Tunisia showing signs of openness. This dismal trend of failed revolutions is underlined by the aftermath of revolutions in smaller countries, such as Cuba and the dictatorship of the Castro family, as well as backward movement in so many other societies, including most of South America and many former Soviet satellites, now ruled by former communist henchmen. Global connections are enabling authoritarian regimes across the globe to bolster one another in campaigns of democracy prevention (Von Soest, 2015).