The Principle of Hereditary Succession

Tom Worstall points us to the intelligent and incisive Natalie Solent, who notes that "people's democracy" is truly dead when it devolves into hereditary succession:

Natalie Solent: Communism is dead! I knew I'd find some good news if I looked hard enough. There had been a few indications before now that communism might be dead, but now I now for sure. It appears that Fidel Castro handed over Cuba to his brother while he had an op. Back when Communism was alive, they may have been gut-churningly evil mass-murdering scum, but they respected the forms. A society in which anyone could say, "Here y'are, bro, take the whole country" was exactly what they were there to extirpate. The French Revolution finally died when Napoleon took to handing out the crowns of Europe to his relatives.

Very true. Now what's the name of that president of ours again?