No, what gives them power is their very real ability to unilaterally use deadly force on a whim. What lets them maintain power is apathy on the part of the proletariat, their desire to be ruled, and individualized fear of authority. The illusion is actually that those in power can't hurt you, and it's something you only get when you unite with others and begin to equate the survival of the movement with your own survival. "I can't die, there's a thousand of us and only one of him."

Also you talk about the state's power evaporating, but a shitload of peasant rebellions have been put down by those in charge. Like, almost all of them ever. Even the USA would have been utterly demolished if the Brits hadn't said "you know what, these colonials don't actually have enough value to fight over this. And they'll come crawling back anyway once they figure out they can't trade because Britannia rules the waves."