When there is such a concentration of power and arbitrary control bestowed to one group of individuals, there exist great incentives to use violence in order to seize or maintain that power. This is why I believe many countries with highly centralized governments that exert great influence over the every day affairs of its denizens are rife with corruption and violence. The great thing about many Western democracies is that power is diffuse across many people and organizations. This changes the risk-reward of political violence or bribery.