Does it though? Seems to me that the pace of innovation is mostly dictated by previous innovation. Political systems and organisations shift and change. What passes for the core moves. Meanwhile things march on.
I don’t really see how it’s circular. They didn’t have the technology because developing technology takes time. Innovation used to happen on a time scale which made political structures not very relevant.
The technological progress of the modern era is a product of the Renaissance movement beginning in the 14th/15th century. A transformations that cuts through culture, society, and technology. Social changes like the emergence of scientific organizations and Rationalism are impossible to meaningfully disentangle from modern technological artifacts.
I don’t really see how it’s circular. They didn’t have the technology because developing technology takes time. Innovation used to happen on a time scale which made political structures not very relevant.