• No one rules alone. You need people to enforce your will (generals, police, ministers, voters, etc.).

• Power comes from those who help you hold power.

  
  

  2. Control the Treasure

• The ruler must raise money (taxes, resources) and spend it mainly on those key supporters.

• Helping citizens is risky because it means less money for key allies.

3. Minimize the Number of Key Supporters

• The fewer people you need to keep happy, the easier it is to stay in power.

• After taking power, rulers often remove unnecessary supporters to save resources.

• Citizens can be ignored, and corruption grows.

2. Leads to authoritarian rule because power doesn’t rely on people working, voting, or paying taxes.

Real-life example: Countries like Saudi Arabia or Equatorial Guinea have rich resources but weak democracies.