Well until the 1880's, democracy in France was seen as the rule of the mob and call backs to the Terror were regularly made.
And the whole elite of the country had fucked off overseas as part of that new regime, with their connections and partially their money.
There probably were other ways but his way worked for France, going from beaten up war torn country to hegemon in 10 years
Nope and nope. Universal male suffrage was reinstated in 1848 and never abolished - though rigged by Napoléon III. The 1848 Republic was a true political democracy, while not a social one.
The untold truth of the Revolution is that only a minority of the nobility did emigrate and they did not represent at all the "whole élite of the country". Many and many local nobles profited from the Revolution, as it allowed them to purchase Church estates at a relatively low cost and to use the new institutions to achieve local prominence.