At the end of the 1930s, the al-Sabah family took control of the state institutions, which were divided between the different sheikhs. This period also witnessed the stagnation of the political opposition, due to the imprisonment of five members of the former Legislative Council and the exile of many of its supporters, but also to the start of World War II, which occurred shortly after the fall of the Council. This combination of events led to substantial changes on the Kuwaiti political map.

The development of new and pre-existing state institutions up to 1956 (the Municipality, Education Department, Police Department, Public Security Department, Shura Council, Finance Department, Health Department, Public Works Department, Awqaf Department, Development Board, Press and Publishing Department and the Supreme Committee) were key to the development of a new reality: the economic, social, and political transformation of Kuwait into a welfare sheikhdom between 1940 and 1956. In addition, the competition between the sheikhs regarding their influence on state institutions and departments is particularly significant. Between 1940 and the death of Fahad al-Salim in 1959, this competition involved in particular ʿAbd Allah al- Mubarak al-Sabah and ʿAbd Allah al-Ahmad al-Sabah on the one hand and the sons of Salim (Awlad Salim) on the other. It is also important to note that the merchants who supported the ruler in the 1938-9 movement were the main beneficiaries of the oil wealth and were members of almost all the institutions until 1950.

The collapse of the Legislative Council in 1938-9 tipped the balance of power towards the al-Sabah family. From then on, sheikhs dominated all Kuwaiti state institutions, a domination due to many external factors, such as Britain's and Ibn Saud's supports for the ruler of Kuwait, the death of King Ghazi in 1939 and World War II. In addition to these external factors a number of internal factors were influential, including the fact that the ruler had no hesitation to resort to repression when he deemed it necessary (as illustrated by the execution of al-Munais to suppress the 1938 movement), but also the discovery of the Burgan oil field and Ahmad al- Jabir's reconciliation with his family.