From a commentary about the biblical significance of the cloak:
The use of cloaks as a symbol of authority is prevalent throughout the Old Testament. In ancient times, a cloak was a sign of status and power and was often worn by kings, priests, and other high-ranking officials.
There are many other symbols of authority; for example, a judge's robe, a crown, a scepter, stars (on an epaulet), a corner office on the top floor of an elegant office building, and the Oval Office in the West Wing of the White House. Titles also confer authority, even without the trappings of a robe, a crown, and so on. But let us here call all such things cloaks of authority.
Cloaks of authority used to obscure the human beings in whom authority is vested. That is no longer the case in the age of the internet, which spreads truth and fiction in equal measure -- and leaves it to the individual person to sort them. The sorting, of course, is done mainly in accordance with the individual's preconceptions about who is "good" and who is "bad". And most persons, it seems, seek out the truth or fiction that supports their preconceptions.
Nowhere is this state of affairs more evident than with respect to the presidency of the United States. Perhaps it's just my faulty memory, but it seems to me that most voters used to believe that one candidate was better than the other, and they accordingly voted for that candidate. Now, it seems that most voters are fearful of what one or the other candidate might do if elected and vote against that candidate because he represents the greater of two evils.
Given that, the presidency (among many other positions of authority) is no longer held in awe, though it is regarded in fear by about half the populace. But even those citizens who support the incumbent do so, for the most part, because he is considered to be the lesser of two evils.
One might say that the imperial presidency is in decline because the "emperor" has no cloak.