The possession of power does not mean its perpetual exercise whenever the sovereign's command is opposed. If the opposition is resolute and determined, common sense and good judgment may suggest it to the sovereign to give way. If he does not, perhaps the cost would be too great, disproportionate to the satisfaction of vindicating the law. Would it have been wiser to meet the Indian demand for Swaraj (independence) and Egyptian nationalism with wholesale military repression instead of granting independence to both the countries? The sovereign will always hesitate in taking drastic action. It is easy to recall many occasions on which the sovereign has given way before group pressure. The behaviour of the legal sovereign can best be explained by his dependence on the political sovereign. If the political sovereign has not been reduced to impotence as the mere tool of a dictator, he hangs over the head of the legal sovereign like a sword of Damocles. Even a dictator is afraid of his future and will hesitate to take an action which is likely to jeopardise his existence. MacIver appropriately says that "all governments depend simply upon a margin of strength, represented by the balance of opinion in their favour" and "an act which reduces the margin weakens its authority entirely out of proportion to the turn over of opinion. If the legal sovereign flouts public opinion, when the voters finally act, they will entrust sovereignty to a different set of men and so reverse the unpopular policy of repressive actions.