One man unifies everyone and handles all the affairs of state, bringing peace, albeit in his interest.

This is too much for one man, so power is shared with his closest, most trusted advisors.

Their power grows until the king has no power and they rule for their benefit. As long as they are just and fair there is no complaint, but over time they grow more and more corrupt.

At this point, the people demand that these people be replaced with people of their choosing, and you have a republic.

But these elected officials also grow corrupt, and so the people demand that they have a say in everything, and you have a democracy.

When the people themselves becone corrupted with power it becomes imperative that one man stands up and unifies everyone and establishes a government he controls that brings peace back.

And then you start over.

The lesson is:

• no one can be trusted with power
• when things go bad, move to the next stage for a moment of peace.