The Republic Lesson Plan

Does the progression from one regime type to another that Socrates describes be reversed? For instance, can tyrannies also become democracies?

Students with some knowledge of world history will point out that real-life autocracies have definitely become democracies in the past, and they may argue on the basis of this that there is no reason to expect that the "degeneration" of regimes can't be reversed. The teacher can still find ways to get them to think critically about the matter, however. How long does it take, for example, for a tyranny to become a democracy? And is it really that common for tyrannies to become democracies? How does this kind of change happen in...