Indeed, any government can go down a very dark path very easily and very quickly if they let themselves.

If they go down the route of "everyone is guilty, let's find out what for when they cause problems for the elite", it's often (but not always) followed by rebellion and uprising — I think not usually the people themselves (though that can happen) but rather because the elite don't necessarily agree with each other and build factions of supporters. Even the Stasi fell, despite all their efforts.

When failure can be graceful instead of painful, I think that's better. I hope I'm right and that's not just wishful thinking.