Many a deputy undertook machinations to depose his superior, which reinforced the inclination to hire mediocrities into the upper ranks, at least as top deputies, nowhere more so than in the tsars’ appointments of ministers.
From the top down the Russian state was mired in incompetenet goverment, due to its increased size in so short a time and the worry of having a subordinate overthrow you. This led to the stacking of state offices with people less than competent, further exacerbating the tension between the goverment adn the lower classes who were most vunerable to this incompetence.
