The man in high castle and politics

 To describe the basis of a political system we can use a simple model: the lord in the high castle and the peasants on the fields.

Peasants pay their taxes in kind to the Lord. Lord and his knights protects them from invaders, hangs thiefs and solves disputes like a judge.

But one day the lord thinks:

I am safe here in my castle why I should bother to risk my life against raiding hordes? Why I should chase bandits on the hills ? Why I should hear complains of small people ?

I can stay here drink wine and listen songs. I will take my cut, if peasants won't give it to me I will take it. What they gonna do ? Storm the castle? Ha, good lock with that 

So the Lord doesn't judge issues, the wicked is not punished, and is getting rich and honest people are getting poor.

Poor people became bandits, but is no one to apprehend them.

Enemies seen the weakness of the country raid it every year.

People pay their taxes by inertia, then they pay less because they have less money and they don't understand for what they are paying for.

The tax income is dwindling, castle must be renovated, the Lord sends his knights to extract more.

I time resentment grows and peasants are not using the violence between them , are using against knights.

Now the knights don't fight in the castle protected by walls, fight in the fields, in the forests against rioters.

Violence multiplies , life of the knight is riskier. Some think: Why risk my life ? I can work from someone else. Other more ambitious, thinks he can be a better ruler. 

Knights finally cave in, the rioters storm the castle, the Lord flees or is killed, people rejoice.

Someone takes the castle, reorganize the knights and the cycle restarts.

In what phase is your country?