Political Theory Axioms

Politics is the control of people, so all political decisions must focus on controlling people without angering them into destroying the political force. This is made easier by the fact that the people want to be controlled, and want each other to be controlled, in order to preserve their own security, or to save themselves the effort of controlling themselves. So a government that provides guidance and security will be followed and appreciated, while one that removes guidance and security will be destroyed by its people.

All governments must seem to work for the people, or the people will turn on them.

Government out of fear works only as long as the people are prevented from uniting. If the offenses of the rulers are grave enough, or if a leader comes to the people, the government collapses. Government out of love (usually government out of bribery: Government does what it wants and as long as the populace is fat and happy, nobody pays attention) is ruled by the same principle, but often has greater internal integrity, because the focus is taken away from the offenses the government commits (for all governments make mistakes and commit offenses), so that the people are distracted and unless a good leader appears and ignites some fervor over various background sins. Thus uncontrolled leaders are the downfall of all governments, because a good leader can make anything look like a problem or a virtue at will, so the government can only defend itself with other good leaders. Therefore it ought to be a primary goal of any governing body to actively seek out good leaders from the populace, and employ them for its own uses.

Government will either adapt to the present or fail. All things are transient, government forms must be as well.

Government inevitably seeks to place more and more power in the hands of fewer and fewer people, until at last a dictatorship emerges.

It is not legislature that makes good government, but the wisdom of the ruler in the moment.

Government should not pretend it is not above its own laws, because governments control armies, and armies serve only the purpose of killing, which most governments find distasteful from the population general. Better to drop the pretenses and convince the people that the government is wise enough to create exceptions to the rules, which is why they are the government in the first place.