The leader’s vision should override liberal democratic norms when they conflict with regime survival.

Opposition should be contained, neutralized, or outmaneuvered rather than accommodated.

Development, security, and order are best achieved through centralized command.

Mass public messaging and symbolic gestures are important tools of rule.

Political survival requires constant vigilance against enemies, real or imagined, inside and outside the state.

Personal will and intuition are to be trusted over expert consensus or institutional constraint.