A moderate middle

When the general public delegates power to its representatives, it at once establishes the authority within each of the citizenry, and, at the same time, it disperses the legitimacy of the exercise of the power to a broad and monopolistic segment of the society. 

With that monopoly on power, it is not difficult for the holders of power to be benevolent. Where the legitimacy of the power is not broadly dispersed within the society, each power-holder needs to worry about how durable their purchase on their power really is. 

The closer someone is to their seat of power, the more susceptible they become to changing into usurpers for that power. Where power is delegated from the people, the closer one is to the seat of power, the more useful one is to the proper exercise of that power. That's what makes for orderly succession in a world where authority rules, and what makes for irregular succession in a world ruled by power/challengers. 

Authority fosters the growth of a moderate middle; honor/shame disables it.