We now turn from the development of political institutions in the Islamic lands of the Middle East to the organisms and attitudes prevalent among the governed classes in Middle Eastern society. The mass of people in the area are commonly described as apolitical, or politically apathetic. This is largely true, but an even more accurate and fitting description would be that of ‘negatively political’, meaning that, since politics largely is a matter of who rules what and who collects taxes, the masses are little interested, since experience has shown them that there is little to choose between one set of rulers and another, apart from minor individual fluctuations in the severity or mildness of regimes.