Another brilliant post and one that immediately reminded me of economist Murray Rothbard's thesis in Anatomy of the State.

As he argues, a major concern for the ruling elite is how to maintain their power. Their typical approach is the use of force but their basic problem is ideological. Any government (regardless of ‘type’) requires support from a majority of its citizens (even passive resignation) given the minority status of the State (nobility and bureaucracy)

The ruling class necessarily must be small as it is supported by production surpluses. While it can attract some allies in the population, “the chief task of the rulers is always to secure the active or resigned acceptance of the majority of the citizens.” (p. 19)

Creating vested economic interests is one way to secure support; sharing the benefits of rule attracts followers but still not a majority . “[T]he majority must be persuaded by ideology that their government is good, wise and, at least, inevitable, and certainly better than other conceivable alternatives.” (p. 20)

The ‘intellectuals’ of society take on this role; they create and disseminate the ideas/beliefs passively adopted, for the most part, by the masses. These opinion-molders are needed by the State and thus offered security, income, and prestige within the State apparatus

The arguments by the State and intellectuals to garner support of the masses are varied and many but come down to a few basics: the rulers are wise/great (e.g., divinely appointed, society’s elite, experts) and leadership/rule/government is inevitable (i.e., evil would befall society without it).