The stationary bandit theory of government posits that organized crime cartels are in control of every single nation-state on the planet. E.g. the bandits in Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai (1954) who wait until the village completes its harvest before plundering them are the best model for the establishment of stable governments where the plundering is organized and relatively non-violent. After all, as Frank Herbert says in one of his Dune books, "A small minority in contol of a large majority is not unusual in history". Getting the other monkeys to get your food while you sit on your rear degenerating into slothfulness is a nice gig if you can get it, I suppose.
Of course, if all the other monkeys get wise to your game you're going to have to institute more violent measures to retain your position, and mass surveillance is a means to that end. Which is why the Saudis buy all that Israeli spyware, to keep their own population in line, right?