(This is an archived page, from the Patterns of Power Edition 3 book. Current versions are at book contents).
The stability of governance is dependent upon its acceptability. The words ‘acceptable’ and ‘acceptability’, which are matters of personal judgement, are used repeatedly in this book. As the term is used here, governance is minimally ‘acceptable’ to an individual if it is ‘tolerable’ – which is to say that the individual is prepared to comply with its requirements and that it is not so bad as to constitute a sufficient reason for that person to try to overthrow it.
For many people, tolerable governance could be simply defined by having enough to eat and being able to live in peace – but those in power should aim to do better than being merely tolerable. The following three sub-sections examine ways of improving the acceptability of governance:
(2.3.1) A sense of justice makes people feel better.
(2.3.2) Stability can be maintained if people agree to support governance, even while they are trying to change it.
(2.3.3) Acceptability can be increased by tuning governance to meet people’s requirements.