At the heart of every political system lies a simple, if unsettling, truth: no one rules alone.

Rulers — be them presidents, premiers, or CEOs — rely on key supporters, strategic alliances, and control over the flow of resources.

We’re here to pull back the curtain on the often unseen forces that shape governments, whether they’re dictatorships or democracies.

Why should Albertans care?

Because in today’s volatile political environment, it’s more crucial than ever to understand how power operates.

“The Rules for Rulers”

“The Rules for Rulers” is a video that strikes a chord because it dissects the cold, hard mechanics of political power.

It provides a framework for understanding how dictatorships and democracies follow the same rules when it comes to taking and holding power over their citizens. Essentially, both systems use corruption as a tool to keep their preferred power structures in place.

Watch this video in less than 20 minutes, and we’ll discuss how it relates to Albertan concerns about resources, representation, and political disillusionment.

Political disillusionment

Although a bit cynical, the video makes a valid point about why political disillusionment persists in different political systems.

For example, the video explains how middling dictatorships (those that aren’t resource rich but still exert significant control) often find themselves in a precarious position. They must provide some level of services to their citizens, creating a more educated and connected population capable of revolt. At the same time, they also heavily extract wealth, creating resentment.

This dynamic, while framed in the context of dictatorships, echoes the sense of frustration that can arise in any system where citizens feel their needs are not being met.

As the video points out, “starving, disconnected, illiterates don’t make good revolutionaries,” but a populace with some degree of connection, education, and experience with economic hardship does.

In Alberta, the boom-and-bust cycles of our oil sands and the debates about our place within Canada have deeply divided the population.

Many Albertans feel that political changes don’t truly address their core concerns and that the same power structures remain in place, regardless of who’s in office.

Despite public dissent and votes for change, the government seemingly prioritizes the interests of specific industries or groups, rather than the average citizen.

The valley of revolution

The video describes a “valley of revolution” that exists between stable democracies and stable, resource-rich dictatorships.

According to the video, governments in the valley face the risk of the revolt because the population has both the motivation and the means to challenge the ruler.

To escape the valley, governments have three options:

• Move towards democracy: Investing in citizen productivity (education, healthcare, infrastructure) increases the stability of your democracy while empowering citizens.
• Become resource rich: Extracting significant resources allows the ruler to bypass the need for a productive citizenry, reducing the risk of revolt but also leading to opression.
• Increase repression: Restricting people’s freedom and controlling them by using force reduces the means for the population to revolt.

In 2025, the question becomes, what option do you see your government taking?

Saving democracy

Understanding the dynamics of power outlined in “the Rule for Rulers” video is crucial for advocating for change in a destabilizing democracy.

If we want to see change, we’ll need to play by the same hidden set of rules as those in power. That means:

1. Identifying key supporters: Alliances can shift. We must organize our advocacy efforts by demonstrating how many different people’s interests are not being served by the current ruling power.
2. Controlling the narrative and resources: It’s information warfare out there. We need independent and citizen journalism to challenge the ruling narrative. We must also redirect financial resources away from the ruling power and towards advocacy efforts. Boycotts and divestment campaigns are key.
3. Minimizing the ruler’s key supporters: It’s imperative to expose instances of corruption and cronyism in politics. We should recognize inequality and policy failures for what they are — an undermining of the government’s legitimacy.

The impact of proportional representation on key supporters

Did you know there are alternative election systems that can reduce a ruler’s reliance on specific key supporters?

The video discusses how rulers manipulate voting blocs to maintain power. However, proportional representation (PR) can mitigate this by ensuring that smaller parties and diverse viewpoints are represented in government. Rulers have a reduced ability to target specific voting blocs, resulting in a more inclusive and representative political system.

When many parties have a voice in government, it’s harder for a small number of very wealthy individuals to have outsized influence.

PR can also help address the sense of political marginalization that fuels disillusionment and instability. PR systems tend to produce coalition governments, which can lead to more moderate and stable policies. This can help prevent the kind of radical swings that destabilize democracies.

Disillusionment is a symptom of a system that prioritizes power over people. To truly address this, we must move beyond individual politicians and focus on systemic change, building a democracy that is truly of, by, and for the people.