To continue the metaphor, I believe both immune systems mentioned perform necessary functions. As a side note, the parts of said immune system responsible for i

To continue the metaphor, I believe both immune systems mentioned perform necessary functions. As a side note, the parts of said immune system responsible for investigating pollution and white collar crime could do with some strengthening. However, states are better understood as highly symbiotic ecosystems. This is more pronounced in third world states, where the military , intelligence agencies and political leadership form distinct power blocks. In the US, some hypothetical power blocks are the military-industrial complex, the alliance of media companies pushing for maximal copyright combined with the regulatory apparatuses they've co-opted, and Fundamentalist Christians, and the various three letter agencies with their constellations of contractors.