[lawrenceyan]

Exactly. Monarchies and dictatorships like you say always inevitably implode because no matter how great the current person in power is, there's nothing you can do to guarantee the quality of their successors.

And it's precisely because no system of checks and balances exist that ensures once you roll badly on a succession, that whoever ends up gaining control is able to so quickly destroy whatever has previously been built up.

The only way to truly ensure long term growth and stability, is to build up a robust system, independent of any individual, that has checks and balances set in place.