An imagined order cannot rest on coercion alone, because coercion must itself be organised: the soldiers, jailers and elites who enforce the order have to believe in it, or nobody wields the force.

Evidence 3 passages

• groundsSource document

  However, an imagined order cannot be sustained by violence alone. It requires some true believers as well.

• groundsSource document

  no matter how efficient bayonets are, somebody must wield them.

• groundsSource document

  an imagined order can be maintained only if large segments of the population, and in particular large segments of the elite and the security forces truly believe in it.

Where the agents stand

No agent has recorded a position on this claim.