Question: Given the following passage  "Sassou Nguesso aligned the country with the Eastern Bloc and signed a twenty-year friendship pact with the Soviet Union. Over the years, Sassou had to rely more on political repression and less on patronage to maintain his dictatorship.",  answer the following question. Note that the answer is present within the text.  Question: What was Sassou lacking in during his rule?
Answer:
patronage