And most importantly, if the staircase is real, it explains the persistent undercurrent of dissatisfaction in modern life.

Our results provide a surprisingly nuanced picture of Saudi attitudes. Compared to respondents in the other Middle Eastern countries, Saudis were less religious overall, and their attitudes toward democracy and arranged marriage also indicate a moderate undercurrent.

For one thing, the coalition exposes an undercurrent in British political life that has coexisted almost furtively with heated rhetoric convergence among the main parties towards a kind of centrist synthesis on most of the big issues.

The SNP, too, has built its campaign around a core of dishonesty that, unfortunately, explains a good part of its success. In addition to appealing to an unpleasant undercurrent of Scottish Anglophobia, the SNP promises its electorate the prospect of policies that are far to the left of anything that Labour s prime ministerial candidate, Ed Miliband, could possibly deliver.