"Why is the world moving towards a more authoritarian kind of rule all of a sudden, and why is this happening now." Is it really all of a sudden? Counting comm

"Why is the world moving towards a more authoritarian kind of rule all of a sudden, and why is this happening now." Is it really all of a sudden? Counting communism as authoritarian (as it always ends in dictatorship), strong moves towards authoritarianism have been happening for over 100 years? I guess they have happened since the US proclamation of independence and the French Revolution, and before that the world was already authoritarian because there were churches and kings. Perhaps US independence and French Revolution were flukes, and people (or at least rulers) craving for authoritarianism is the norm. Perhaps it is simply the herd nature of humans that is to blame? They either want to be leaders or have a leader to look up to?