A consistent theme throughout history is the need for a "story" justifying power. It doesn't need to be perfect but it needs some grounding. A King is thought

A consistent theme throughout history is the need for a "story" justifying power. It doesn't need to be perfect but it needs some grounding. A King is thought to simply have absolute power but this isn't true. The story is that he or she gained his power from "god", which is why Henry VIII nearly tore the country apart with his divorce. His decisions were the start of a dissent that ultimately culminated in the English Civil War. This is also why dictators will go through the motions of a sham election. They derive their right to authority from the outcome of this election. If the dictator were to later say the election was a sham he would be disavowing his own right to authority. The Chinese authority gains its power from the revolution. The people decided and fought to implement communism. If they back away too far from this in a way that is overt they will loose their moral authority to govern. Failure to maintain this story gives ammunition to political opponents.