The <strong>Psychology of Socialism</strong> was first published in 1899 in a period of crisisfor French democracy. The Third Republic had survived an attempted... » 

The Psychology of Socialism was first published in 1899 in a period of crisisfor French democracy. The Third Republic had survived an attempted coup dtatonly to be confronted with what Georges Sorel and others called the Bohemianrevolutionthe triumph of radical and socialist forces in the Dreyfus Affair.The emotionalism and hysteria of the period convinced Le Bon that mostpolitical controversy is based neither on reasoned deliberation nor rationalinterest but on a psychology that partakes of hysterical religiosity. «