The notion of secondary powers, placed between the sovereign and his subjects, occurred naturally to the imagination of aristocratic nations, because those communities contained individuals or families raised above the common level, and apparently destined to command by their birth, their education, and their wealth.
Subiranoaren eta menpekoen artean kokaturiko bigarren mailako botereen ideia berez agertzen zen herri aristokratikoen irudimenean, botere horiek beren baitan zituztelako jaiotzaz, jakintzargiz edo aberastasunez besteen mailatik gorago zeuden pertsona edo familiak, agintzera destinaturik ematen zutenak.