 What of political authorities? Searle says (1995: 91–2): “More spectacular examples are provided by the collapse of the Soviet empire in the annus mirabilis, 1989.… It collapsed when the system of status-functions was no longer accepted.” However, such collapses of political systems seem to demonstrate a special feature of institutional positions of authority rather than of institutional roles in general. Specifically, it is a necessary condition of wielding authority that subordinates obey the commands of their superior. Presumably, they do so because they believe the person in question has a moral right to be obeyed and/or they fear sanctions if they do not obey (Miller 2001: 189).