I'm reading The Origins of Totalitarianism, by Hanna Arendt. Here's an interesting quote:
The mob is primarily a group in which the residue of all classes are represented. This makes it so easy to mistake the mob for the people, which also comprises all strata of society. While the people in all great revolutions fight for true representation, the mob always will shout for the "strong man," the "great leader."
Consider a country where emigration (or political repressions, or other kind of negative selection) is massive and affects disproportionally the educated (or propertied) class. According to the Arendt's model, such a country would have a large share of "residue", i.e. the mob. The mob would create a strong demand for an authoritarian ruler. Furthermore, the authoritarian ruler would know that having a large share of the mob among the people could help him retain his power. Therefore, he would put pressure on the educated (or propertied) class, so that they would be less represented in the general population. As a result, the country would end up with a self-reinforcing process of mob rule, which at the same time gives a lot of power to the "great leader."
To summarize, we can use the Arendt's model to both qualitatively and quantitatively evaluate authoritarian tendencies in the Soviet Union and the post-Soviet Russia. We can also use it to discuss the absence of institutions that protect propertied and educated strata of the society.
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