On 19Oct2020 0709, David Johnson wrote:

> One would be hard pressed to argue, for example, that the United  > States, at a third of a billion people (i.e. Pop 8), is anything >
above Government type 9. Same holds for the European Union, if it > were
considered to be a single polity. Likewise Japan, a smaller Pop > 8
polity. I suppose some might see India (Pop 9) sliding toward >
Government type A, but until very recently it was not more than an >
Impersonal Bureaucracy (Gov 9). Indonesia, Pakistan, Nigeria, Brazil >
and Mexico (all Pop 8) have each had elections in the past decade >
where power transferred from one group to their nominal political >
opponents with little political violence. Indeed, among the ten most >
populous nations on the planet only China, Russia and, maybe, >
Bangladesh have Gov A+.
One could argue that this is because 'Self-Perpetuating Oligarchy' is
such a low type, presumably because it was a common government type in
the classical world, and by modern standards classical states had low
populations and low law levels. But China is now probably a Type B
(having slid from type A), and there are a lot of Type As out there from
Russia and Turkey to a good chunk of Latin America. Also, there's no
government type for a dictator that's gained power through non-standard
means that doesn't have the confidence of the citizens.

--
Rupert Boleyn <xxxxxx@gmail.com>