In the book "Russia under the old regime" an attempt was made to determine the reasons why in Russia for 700 years of its history it was not possible to create a state system responsible to its people and expressing their interests. In primitive society, power over people was combined with power over things, and the West needed a long evolution so that it bifurcated into the power of the ruler and the power of the owner. In Russia, this separation occurred very late and was insignificant; political scientists call such states patrimonial or patrimonial. Political power in them is conceived and acts as an extension of property rights, and the ruler is both the sovereign of the state and its owner.