They sense the scandal might well dislodge the ruling order.

Instead, he diligently describes the fates of leading radicals in this period, and the battles they fought against an unremittingly hostile, and in some ways deeply conservative ruling order.

It finished the war with its ruling order more firmly entrenched and its empire and influence expanded — not a bad result for the 'war to end wars'.

Initially loyal to the system, he comes to despise the ruling order responsible for the city's slow decay and lashes out destructively.

That generates opposition to the ruling order, the privileging of individual partisanship over activity on behalf of a social class, and an emphasis on asking questions.