Controlled opposition

The Soviet Communists mastered the concept of controlled opposition which creates the illusion of opposition: the government orchestrates both sides of a conflict. On the one side, you have the status quo authority, while on the other, you have those that are also controlled by the same authority.  This creates the facade of opposition - one that appears to challenge the status quo, but in fact, it eradicates any true dissent. As long as people feel that they can oppose the system through an accepted conduit, they won’t revolt and burn the system to the ground. Further, by controlling the opposition, which you can fill with the worst and the dumbest politicians, you prevent legitimate and organized opposition from forming any real threat to the status quo.