Paleo-Conservative George Will compares The Reublican Party to

[sandensea]

9. +1

And both tend to succumb to endemic corruption as well.

That's how the Soviet Union actually fell: So much of their output was pilfered by local Communist officials here and there, to be sold for hard currency as off-the books exports, that there was never enough for domestic needs (the famous bread lines).

Dictatorship meant almost zero accountability, from the Politburo on down to the local commissars (many of whom were crooks, and later became oligarchs).

Anyone who complained, fell off a fifth-story window.

By the late '70s, they were relying on secret IMF loans, and when the price of oil - their top hard currency earner - collapsed in '86, they collapsed with it.

Right-wing dictatorships have had the same problem, of course: Marcos, Mobutu, the Shah, Suharto, Videla, etc. - all collapsed due to Romney-style corruption (rack up huge debts in the company's name, pocket the proceeds offshore, and then strip the assets).