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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/40361
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

There are already many ways of how a "Stupid Empire" could react or manifest and how the rebels could exploit that.  
So I would like to add a few tools of how to _SHOW_ and _EXPLAIN_ the stupidity, so that the reader can understand and relate to that fact. This way you can better avoid unfulfilling "Ex-Machina" feelings.  
Just pick what matches your story best.

1. **Have a competent but underpowered imperial Officer**  
He knows about what goes wrong and why. But he has not enough power to make much of a difference. He could be the main antagonist and the "face" of the Empire (to your readers that is) and either argues with his superiors or can even be too afraid to do that.  
Bonus point: If the rebel infighting gets too destructive and you need to ease imperial pressure, you can just kill him off (being sent to an unholdable position for example). Or you make him more powerful (getting promoted) if you need a real bossfight at the end.  
  
2. **Have a very overconfident and very powerful imperial Officer**  
You can also do the opposite of the above. Having one or two severly flawed but powerful characters in the empire could help you show that much of the stupidity is not in fact systemic but rather personal.  
This is not mutually exclusive to 1.  
  
3. **Have a mole (or multiple)**  
If the rebels can deliver false intelligence to the Empire, it will be clear, why they make wrong decisions all the time. Just make it clear to the reader that there is a very effective mole. (But don't overuse this. A mole's info can't deviate too far from the truth or he will be found out).  
Bonus point: If you need to crank up the pressure, let the mole be found and imperial decisions suddenly get better.  
(Just a little addition: It could be kinda hilarious if every rebel fraction has their own moles but they are too paranoid to tell each other. In the end they find out that they already had control over most of the imperial command structure but never knew... and now the emperor caught all of them.)  
  
4. **Have strong propaganda**  
If your Empire broadcasts a strong message of "We are invincible", even imperial officers will believe that and underestimate the threat of an actual rebellion. But only showing the propaganda itself will not do. You need to make clear that the Empires decisions are based on propaganda beliefs.  
Bonus point: With time and experience the officers will learn to be more cautious or aggressive. So you can again crank the pressure up over time.  
Or make leading officers get more and more demoralized if you wish. (The thought of everyone - rebels AND empire spiralling into chaos is quite intriguing I think).  
  
5. **Have a knowledgebal informant in your rebellion**  
Having someone like an imperial Ex-Officer who can explain how the Empire reacts is a good way of making mistakes relatable. Just make him an important part of planning or briefings.  
Or have him explain things to inexperienced rebel grunts who scoff at the empires stupidity.  
  
6. **Have an outside viewer**  
Someone like a traveler or a normal civilian, having to flee because rebels took his hometown for example, is a good tool to show how the Empire reacts and how their priorities are set (and how the rebels themselves are perceived by the population).  
He could either get to a refugee camp or just flee across the country.  
To spice this up you could make him a rebellion-deserter who really has reasons to run from the rebels.  
  
7. **Have good - maybe honorful - reasons for wrong priorities**  
How about an Empire that makes an effort to protect civilians? But they constantly underestimate the trouble of managing refugee camps and evacuations (and yes the Empire can be evil and still care about its workforce. No one said they would provide good care in these camps... just some protection. Eg: If I want to get more gold in the future, I need some gold miners).  
A brawl in a refugee camp for example might very well throw them off guard. The rebels could even abuse this tactic to lower the empires ability to react.  
Or they are very cautious and really don't want to battle unprepared so they wait just a little too long for supplies.

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