Public debt will exceed GDP within 5 years
The interest payments on public debt will exceed GDP within 15 years
Senior military officers openly criticise the head of state due to political
defeats
The head of state wants to cut spending on the military to reign in public
debt
The elected reps want trade sanctions against the country's largest trading
partner
The largest trading partners lend the country money to buy their trade goods
Slaves/below poverty income exceed 30% of the population
Public assets allowed to decay and fall into disuse
Pensions and salaries for politicians and public servants paid before any
other debts
Client States start to negotiate secret trade and military treaties with the
large trading partner


--
"A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only
exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse
(defined as a liberal gift) from the public treasury. From that moment on,
the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits
from the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses
over loose fiscal policy, followed always by a dictatorship. The average age
of the world's greatest civilizations has been 200 years." - attributed to
Alexander Fraser Tytler