Charles Boix in "Political Order and Inequality" posits that feudalism is a particular form of "the looters are in charge, because they can be" as contrasted wi

Charles Boix in "Political Order and Inequality" posits that feudalism is a particular form of "the looters are in charge, because they can be" as contrasted with the more rare republic where there is more equality among the power-sharing producers. Republics can involve various shades of "republic at home, looters abroad" e.g. the Athens of Perilces. Republics are not very common nor large nor long-lived, at least up until the 18th century or so. Military technology and who can afford it is a big factor. More to the original topic, republics per Boix must prevent looting from the producers; this includes both external agents--"special military operations", barbarians on the frontier, foreign commercial agents who banana your republic, etc--and internal agents, who could be those welfare queens, men out of a job and certainly not looking (I mean why would you??), or plutocrats making out like bandits.