Viewpoint: The cult of 'People Power'

As part of the BBC's Who Runs Your World? series, Mark Almond, Lecturer in Modern History at Oriel College, Oxford University, assesses the myth and reality of "People Power".

We live in an age of revolution. To paraphrase Karl Marx, a spectre is haunting the world: People Power.

The image of huge crowds, peacefully protesting against corrupt and undemocratic regimes, has become an icon of the modern age. Starting in the Philippines in 1986 where the term "People Power" was coined, and taking wing in 1989 when a sea of people seemed to swamp the old guard communists in East Berlin or Prague, the myth of popular revolution took flight.