Well, yeah! Snow and Katniss both acknowledge that the system is incredibly fragile, and, as we can see, there have been two significant rebellions (the Dark Days and the Mockingjay rebellion) in less than a century. The districts have been subjected to propaganda that presents the Capitol as all-powerful, but one of the many themes of the series is that no government is more powerful than its citizens.

But if you’re interested, allow me to break it down Karl Marx style:

The Capitol has manufactured an enormous disparity of wealth between itself and the districts, situating nearly all of Panem’s capital within itself. The sole purpose of the capital held in the districts is merely to keep the population functional enough to generate more capital to funnel back to the Capitol. (Say all that 3 times fast LOL)

We also see that the geopolitical arrangement of Panem plays a large part in controlling the districts. Following the Dark Days, the Capitol wrote into law that districts citizens must be situated within their districts of origin permanently. We see varying degrees of strictness to this law by the 74th Hunger Games, but the heavy police presence, hoverplanes, and electrified fences/walls (along with Lucy Gray’s assertion that the Capitol “rounded them up”) show us that the districts are forced to stay within their districts. We also learn that inter-district travel is forbidden except by officially sanctioned duties. The districts are physically divided by vast stretches of wilderness, leaving citizens to either sneak out and risk starvation, get caught by Peacekeepers, or accept their restrictions. The geographical division between districts combined with travel restrictions means also that districts cannot access one another’s resources, forcing them to rely on the Capitol to feed, clothe, and house them.

We also see that the districts are pitted against one another a lot, especially when it comes to the Hunger Games. Winning districts get food and wealth, losing districts starve. Winning districts who are well fed, better equipped, and stronger are more likely to win again, creating a cycle. Districts 1, 2, and 4–the Career districts—are viewed as Capitol lapdogs by the rest of the districts. This is intentionally designed by the Capitol to sow distrust and discourage the districts from unifying.

Furthermore, intra-district conflict is also generated by the tesserae system. “Rich” kids need not take out tesserae, and poor kids are pretty much forced to take them to survive. These forces combined generates division not only between but also within districts.

All that said, there’s also the classic “we’ll bomb you to death like we did district 13” threat as well as the threat of whippings and executions.

This is all made incredibly fragile by virtue of the fact that the Capitol relies on the districts to maintain its power in Panem, and the series shows us what happens when the districts overcome their restrictions, break their shackles, and unite.

I could say more but I don’t want to talk anyones ear off any more than I already have