This is a common problem for incumbent demagogues. In opposition, simple solutions are proposed for complex problems: tariffs as the remedy for industrial decline; expelling illegal immigrants as the answer to every social and economic grievance; trusting in the leader’s judgment as the answer to everything else.

In office, those mechanisms fail to deliver the promised benefits. Someone needs to be blamed. The categories of undesirable element grow. Media, universities, courts and opposition parties are called crooked or treasonous. But purges disrupt the smooth running of a country. They are bad for the economy. This is how the insecure leader goes through the gears of tyranny. A craving for control generates dissent, which is attacked as a menace to society, requiring more draconian law enforcement. When that provokes more determined opposition, the dissenters are denounced as extremists who jeopardise public safety.