The Dictator's Handbook: Why Bad Behavior is Almost Always Good Politics
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- Create Date：2021-04-16 14:55:31
- Update Date：2025-09-06
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- Author：Bruce Bueno de Mesquita
- ISBN：1610391845
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Summary
For eighteen years， Bruce Bueno de Mesquita and Alastair Smith have been part of a team revolutionizing the study of politics by turning conventional wisdom on its head。 They start from a single assertion: Leaders do whatever keeps them in power。 They don’t care about the “national interest”—or even their subjects—unless they have to。 This clever and accessible book shows that the difference between tyrants and democrats is just a convenient fiction。 Governments do not differ in kind but only in the number of essential supporters， or backs that need scratching。 The size of this group determines almost everything about politics: what leaders can get away with， and the quality of life or misery under them。 The picture the authors paint is not pretty。 But it just may be the truth， which is a good starting point for anyone seeking to improve human governance。
Reviews
Danil Krox
，
I came to this book after CGPGrey video。 The book expands on that summary and provides great ideas with rich examples。 The only problem of this book is that it is too damn repetitive。 The same sentences get repeated over and over again。 This makes the book unnecessarily long。 I am sure it can be restructured in a way to shrink its size in half without loosing any of the information。Nevertheless， it is highly recommended if you just seen the videos/podcasts that reference the book and want to ha I came to this book after CGPGrey video。 The book expands on that summary and provides great ideas with rich examples。 The only problem of this book is that it is too damn repetitive。 The same sentences get repeated over and over again。 This makes the book unnecessarily long。 I am sure it can be restructured in a way to shrink its size in half without loosing any of the information。Nevertheless， it is highly recommended if you just seen the videos/podcasts that reference the book and want to have a deeper dive into the topic。 。。。more
Vic
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This book is a fine book with many intelligent points， but I just can’t bring myself to finish reading it。 It’s such a downer。 Please don’t let my rating sway you because you might find it interesting。 I just found it affected me emotionally。
Razvan Bociu
，
The best political science book I have ever read。
Skarner
，
這大概是我看過最通俗最有趣的政治類書籍舉出許多歷史上的有名的獨裁者/公司老闆分析並分析為何能成功以及失敗也能讓能了解制度的影響談起錢~政客跟企業家本質也沒大多區別是本很適合大眾入門"政治"的書 這大概是我看過最通俗最有趣的政治類書籍舉出許多歷史上的有名的獨裁者/公司老闆分析並分析為何能成功以及失敗也能讓能了解制度的影響談起錢~政客跟企業家本質也沒大多區別是本很適合大眾入門"政治"的書 。。。more
Q
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DNF at around 30%。 This is a really useful framework for thinking about power and politics， but it was too discouraging for me to want to read the whole thing in the year 2021。 Maybe I'll come back to it later， or just rely on The Chemist （who read a lot more of it than I did）。 DNF at around 30%。 This is a really useful framework for thinking about power and politics， but it was too discouraging for me to want to read the whole thing in the year 2021。 Maybe I'll come back to it later， or just rely on The Chemist （who read a lot more of it than I did）。 。。。more
Led
，
Why bad behavior is almost always good politics？ From how I understood it: For a leader to stay in power， regardless of leadership style， it will inevitably necessitate self-serving actions of varying evils to the neglect or harm of the people。 I wanted to discover what whispers despots hear so I delved into this。 （I wasn't surprised that #DutertePalpak fits many of the descriptions。） Naturally， for majority of us belonging to the public， and not party to the 'essentials' or the leader's win Why bad behavior is almost always good politics？ From how I understood it: For a leader to stay in power， regardless of leadership style， it will inevitably necessitate self-serving actions of varying evils to the neglect or harm of the people。 I wanted to discover what whispers despots hear so I delved into this。 （I wasn't surprised that #DutertePalpak fits many of the descriptions。） Naturally， for majority of us belonging to the public， and not party to the 'essentials' or the leader's winning coalition， we are in the dark of every leader's most pressing agenda: political survival。 I expected this to be a painstaking read for evident reasons。 But I'm taking away plenty of insights and 'oh that's why' from its generous analyses of historical accounts of leader downfalls and triumphs across lands。 It's worth noting that the book treads with a cynical tone， and fitting its title， speaks of the makings of an effective dictator。 An observation I had which the book itself later admits is its repetitive rhetoric on the distinctions between autocracy versus democracy。 It just couldn't stress the idea enough。 As it draws to a close it re-centers on what political approach is better for the vast majority of people。 My biggest disillusionment are that of what foreign aid primarily provides， and that democrats are no angels compared to autocrats， survival-wise。 "Autocratic politics is a battle for private rewards。 Democratic politics is a battle for good policy ideas。""[E]ven if politics is nothing more than a game that leaders play， if only we learn the rules， it becomes a game we can win。" 。。。more
Kiley Nelson
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 Keep your coalitions small so you’re only beholden to a few people Instead of a whole nation of people。 Foreign aid is good for concessions， but bad for the target people。 First step: give the people the technology to communicate， research， and organize then you have a democracy。
Doom70
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Excellent and informative。
Jurij Fedorov
，
Chapter 1 - The Rules of Politics6，5/10It's a 2 parter。 It's both the intro and chapter 1 - and also 2 different topics。 The intro story about corrupt town politicians in USA is great。 Really fun to read/listen to on audiobook。 These type of stories retold well are just great anecdotes that you will remember and use when talking about this topic。The last part is just an intro to the book telling us what we already know about the book or would find out about anyhow。 This overly long intro is dry Chapter 1 - The Rules of Politics6，5/10It's a 2 parter。 It's both the intro and chapter 1 - and also 2 different topics。 The intro story about corrupt town politicians in USA is great。 Really fun to read/listen to on audiobook。 These type of stories retold well are just great anecdotes that you will remember and use when talking about this topic。The last part is just an intro to the book telling us what we already know about the book or would find out about anyhow。 This overly long intro is dry and pointless and doesn't really explain why all those conclusions about leaders and not ideas ruling in governments are true。 It's interesting if you are below highschool level， but I think most readers reading this stuff already understand that countries and cities are not things that react or act。 It's people who want to gain， keep and expand their power who actually make all decisions。 Not some group morals or ideas。Chapter 2 - Coming to Power6/10More "rambling" meta-info stuff that's largely a repeat of chapter one。 There are a few good stories。 Mainly the Castro story about how he got Che killed is interesting。 But besides this short story the chapter lacks depth and storytelling。 It feels like the chapter is fine， but 65% of it is filler and pretty pointless。 Unless you are a high schooler you will feel like they over explain things。I also constantly got confused by how they explain things with hypothetical examples。 For example， all the leaders they mention are men。 Dictators， kings， politicians。 All big men with lots of power and a will to compete and defeat。 Yet in their hypothetical examples they use "she" and "her" to refer to these dictators/greedy leaders。 This is frankly not helping me understand their main points as I keep getting confused about their ideas on leaders， gender and hypothetical cases。 It does feel like they don't really understand that the real examples they mention don't cleanly progress into the hypothetical cases and it's like reading bullet points instead of one coherent argument。 So it's both way too oversimplified and too unfocused in some way。 It's like they are trying to say something about women yet it's not clear what that even can be。 They should have explained the basics of evolutionary psychology before making examples like this。Chapter 3 - Staying in Power6，5/10I'm trying to keep track of what chapter said what。 I just noticed that the audiobook is not split into chapters so at least now I'm 100% sure when chapter 3 starts and ends。This chapter is about staying in power。 Mostly it's about how the HP board was controlled by the various CEOs and how they fought for power。 The CEO is not supposed to just produce a big profit。 There is a fight for power too and you are supposed to make the ingroup both richer and more powerful。 If you make them rich but not powerful they may fire you for ruining their own future income。 The chapter is fine， but I feel like the HP story has too much guesswork in it and is too repetitive。 The same points are repeated 5 times over because there is not much info about the case and we actually don't know how the CEOs came to power or why exactly they got fired。 Their guesswork feels like a stretch。 Interesting story， but there is no good info here。Then there is a curious story about Saddam Hussain and how he ruled。 But that's very short。Then they have several dictator examples， among them Mugabe。 This is all good info for sure。 Castro and other big dictators make for good stories。 It's still short stories though and often the boring and repetitive meta analysis constantly takes over which is a shame。 I do feel like they wrote a simple book not expecting it to become a big seller。 Afterwards you may regret rushing the book this way and not taking the time to tidy up the chapters。 A new edition being 30% shorter could fix that。Chapter 4 - Steal from the Poor， Give to the Rich7，5/10Now this is a good chapter。 Instead of repeating the same basic premise again and again they explore new ideas constantly using country leaders as examples。 Why did USA and Nigeria take out huge loans that seemed impossible to repay when their economies were improving？ In Nigeria the oil discoveries were used to take out bigger loans which made the country more poor。 In USA politicians also wanted to stay in power and also took out huge loans to please the people putting them in power。 Now USA seems unable to repay the loans in any realistic time frame yet they just keep borrowing。This is also why you can't just spend all the money on the population overall。 You spend the money on the people you need to satisfy to remain in power。 In a democracy that's partly a large group of voters too。 Whole jn Iran the ruling class is small， the leaders don't care that much about what the population feels and stopping trade with other countries， while hurting the population a lot， may not mean much to their leadership either way。Chapter 5 - Getting and Spending8，5/10Another complete chapter and the best chapter so far。 My main issue with this chapter， and prior chapters， is that it's hard to remember all the smaller points and examples。 Like， we know Saddam hated babies/offspring as he didn't really rely on a great population。 More children were just a big waste of energy in many instances， unless he needed an army I assume。 The same is the case with safety measures in relation to power plants and natural disasters。 For a dictatorship it's not essential use of money。 In democracy it's different。 Overall very strong chapter and probably the best chapter to pick out and read to understand the book。 But there are still many chapters left so let's see。。。Chapter 6 - If Corruption Empowers， Then Absolute Corruption Empowers Absolutely7/10Curious and good chapter with some weird concepts too that are harder to judge。 Largely it's repeated points about keeping the ruling class small and how it's small in Russia and Iran， but bigger in Turkey。 And a bigger ruling class means more money for the people as they hold a greater power over politicians。 It does feel weird at times as it seems to either repeat points from old chapters or use anecdotes to kinda try to say something new。 But we never fully understand what their new idea is。 Like， what do all these corruption stories try to hint at？ It's never fully explained。 We just kinda have to assume things without knowing the points。Chapter 7 - Foreign Aid7，5/10Very strong chapter。 Yet again repetitive， but it's some great info。 They suggest that USA should just directly pay Pakistan leaders billions so that they will be motivated to catch terrorists。 Right now Pakistan is receiving money to hunt terrorists in their country。 Which of course means that they would lose billions in future income if they finally catch them。 It's also an issue that the leaders need to steal this aid from their own country。 Foreign aid is often stolen and it would be cheaper and more effective to just give it directly to the leaders as you know they will take it anyhow。 Instead Western countries act like they are helping while actually supporting something that won't be build/fixed， to get something in return the leaders never plan to give up as it would lose them this free income。 It's a waste of money。It's some great info。 But the chapter does feel a bit repetitive/dry。 It's not bad at all。 It just feels a bit technical。 Maybe the audio narration plays a role in this too。Chapter 8 - The People in Revolt7，5/10Lots of good small stories about revolts。 It's stuff one can figure out anyhow by just looking at how Xi or Putin respond to protests， but it's a fine intro to protests and the anger of a starved people and how they can destroy a dictatorship。 Yet again examples from Africa are used and it's great。 Ghana's dictator didn't get support from Soviet and therefore had to democratize the country to create enough money to sustain it。 It's the first rule of rulership， you must have access to wealth to pay off your ingroup。 If that's not possible you will fall。 So what some dictators do in situations where there is no money is slowly democratizing the country to please the angry masses and remain in power。 If Soviet existed today they would have supported even more dictatorships worldwide and these small dictators would remain in power。It's yet again a tad dry and predictable chapter with some stories that are hard to pin down as I know very little about Africa。 But it's still very good。 I think the book is just a level lower than where I am intellectually。 But I would have adored it as an intro to this topic years ago。Chapter 9 - War， Peace， and World Order0/10Another chapter that is both deep and quite unfocused at the same time。 It tries to say something philosophically deep， but then never makes any clear point。 It's about war and about how democracies are effective in war。 Voters punish democracies for the many deaths even if they win the war。 So democracies have advanced armies while dictatorships don't want to spend their personal money on extra protective gear and better weapons。 For them extra deaths instead of extra spending is ideal。Yet again I'm not quite convinced by the arguments in the book， it's something I haven't really focused on in my review。 30% of points made in this book are iffy。 They are interesting and philosophically engaging， but the evidence is weak。 Often they use their own observations and studies to make huge sweeping conclusions about how the world works。 Interestingly they don't mention big studies or other researchers。 I think the average reader will feel convinced by the flashy words and long-winded arguments， but we do need way more research on this。 It's true that dictatorships work a certain way and that democracies have the same personal motivations as dictatorships。 It's true that you need to pay off your ingroup in all countries。 Besides that it's hard to say what their arguments are and how valid they are。Chapter 10 - What Is To Be Done？7/10It's basically a summary of the prior chapters which is not really needed as the intro had a similar summary。 Actually， each chapter had the same summary to some degree。 Now we have the second full chapter summary。 Still a high quality text/chapter by itself。Now that I think back on the points made here and in prior chapters I think the most intellectual and interesting point was about how we shouldn't just blindly give monetary aid to foreign countries/dictatorships as we do now。 Rather we should demand a moral ruling class that doesn't harm people。 This idea is so interesting and seemingly groundbreaking that you can write a great book about it。 And it's a shame the authors didn't spend more chapters on it instead of repeating their small basic rulership idea。Conclusion。。。Overall the book is interesting and has some deep ideas and discussions。 It's not quite a must-read because of several issues。 It's very repetitive。 It frankly should have been 80 to 110 pages shorter which is insane。 But editing books is very hard。 Some are better edited than others because some authors can afford better editors。Then on top of that it repeats gists and ideas instead of clear and well-structured arguments。 Most of the points are interesting philosophy， but lack proof and research。 It's all very fascinating and convincing， but if you start to think critically about it it becomes clear that many of their ideas don't seem to hold water just yet。 Maybe with more evidence their theories would be more convincing。But it's nice that they stay neutral and often even argue pro functional dictatorship。 This makes the book feel like something that explores a concept instead of being ideological propaganda。 This is something you more often see from centrists， liberals or conservatives today who are not in cultural power。 But it may all change as in the future another ideological group may rule and therefore stop creating good truth-seeking research。 Right now we only see a few new academic books from a neutral point of view and they feel timeless in some ways because of the lack of cultural propaganda。 So this book will be readable in 50 years too。It's a book you may want to read if you need to learn about rulerships， which is very interesting indeed。 But since the idea is very simple you may also want to just read a few chapters instead？ I think the book would be much better if it was about 260 pages long。 Right now it's hard to see it become a hugely popular best seller that will change how we talk about dictatorships unless some research is added to it in a new edition。 Unfortunately their ideas about foreign aid are still not well-known。 But it may change。 。。。more
Jonathan Gross
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Quite good。 Theory seems to have merit， even if I wonder if it seems like a bit of an oversimplification。 It definitely influenced how I think about forms of government though。
Enrico Granara
，
The book description is just perfect。 This is the most revealing and compelling Political Science manual I have ever read。
Andy Cyca
，
（First of all， the rating I'm giving it is 3。5/5， but Goodreads only admits integer solutions to its review problem。。。）You may see several reviewers mention that there is nothing new with this book if you're familiar with this or that concept of Politics or have taken courses。 While that may be true， the same can be said of most other non-fiction books， so it's not a good reason to dismiss the book。First， there's the fact that the book rests on a good and healthy number of years， research and pu （First of all， the rating I'm giving it is 3。5/5， but Goodreads only admits integer solutions to its review problem。。。）You may see several reviewers mention that there is nothing new with this book if you're familiar with this or that concept of Politics or have taken courses。 While that may be true， the same can be said of most other non-fiction books， so it's not a good reason to dismiss the book。First， there's the fact that the book rests on a good and healthy number of years， research and published papers by the authors， so at one point it must have contained original thoughts （or original enough to be considered of publication in academic journals） Several people， myself included， do not generally read academic papers in political science， so books like these are a good way of expanding one's knowledge。Second， some reviewers mention that the authors repeat themselves too much。 While that may be true， I believe it's almost a necessity for this kind of book。 The core of the book is a relatively simple hypothesis， and the book is dedicated to explaining it and demonstrating how and when it can explain the world around us。 In a book like this， it's necessary to establish how and when the hypothesis works with as much detail as possible， and that may sometimes mean "repeating oneself"。 To their credit， the book has a wonderful thing that many non-fiction authors seem to forget: a proper summary at the end of every chapter。So， what's the catch？ I worry that the hypothesis seems "adapted" or "post-hoc"。 One can't help but wonder how much of this book was made to explain existing situations and how much of it can be used to predict future scenarios。 Given that this book is now a few years old， it would be nice to review current events since its publication with the hypothesis glasses on， to see how well it's aged。In summary， this is an interesting book， and has interesting， well crafted and well written ideas。 It's true that they may apply to all walks of life where there is an organization of power， and they might be a simple and elegant way of thinking about how those with power use that power。I'm not going to go all the way and say that it's the ultimate hypothesis on power， but it's certainly a clean one， and one that I'd like to apply whenever I'm in charge。 。。。more
Sean Fortuna
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The authors popularize their Selectorate Theory。 There are many strong claims here， and a lot of examples are given as proof。 One gets a feeling that there is a lot more going on with their arguments and their examples are just illustrative of a more rigorous and comprehensive analysis， but I guess one just needs to read The Logic of Political Survival to find the details。Contains a lot less game theory than I expected。
chris lee
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Good read and eye openingInteresting view of politicians and people in general。 Good verification of the inherent greed in everyone。 Knowing that people are always performing for self promotion or enrichment should be expected and never taken for granted。
William Smith
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Perfect review of the principles of l Machiavelli in action with examples。
Olof
，
Excellent book！Takes the pragmatic view of the leader in both autocratic and democratic countries and explain their reasoning and actions based on circumstances， not on what one might want to be true。 A main concept is about the size of the winning coalition: The number of essentials， influentials and interchangeables which affect how many people the leader（s） are beholden to。 The book also cover coming to power， staying in power， Foreign aid， Revolutions， Public spending， Taxes， War and Corrupt Excellent book！Takes the pragmatic view of the leader in both autocratic and democratic countries and explain their reasoning and actions based on circumstances， not on what one might want to be true。 A main concept is about the size of the winning coalition: The number of essentials， influentials and interchangeables which affect how many people the leader（s） are beholden to。 The book also cover coming to power， staying in power， Foreign aid， Revolutions， Public spending， Taxes， War and Corruption。+Gives convincing arguments for why dictators （and democratic leaders） act the way they do。+Gives concrete solutions as to what to do about it。+Backs reasoning with data。-Generalizes outside the field of political science， game theory and economics to business which might not be as accurate or applicable。 。。。more
Michael Michael
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The dictator's handbook has shifted my paradigm multiple times。 The conversation now moves away from the leader and his corruption to the political structure under which he operates。 This makes analyzing political systems much easier and gives a lot of explanation for public policies implemented by autocratic and democratic governments。 The first concept the book explores is the idea of the selectorate。 There exists three types。 Interchangeable or nominal selectorate （little influence over the i The dictator's handbook has shifted my paradigm multiple times。 The conversation now moves away from the leader and his corruption to the political structure under which he operates。 This makes analyzing political systems much easier and gives a lot of explanation for public policies implemented by autocratic and democratic governments。 The first concept the book explores is the idea of the selectorate。 There exists three types。 Interchangeable or nominal selectorate （little influence over the incumbent）， the real selectorate （actual decision-makers）， and the essentials （the leader must have their support to survive）。 The size of those three groups determines everything about the government of a social structure such as a company or a state。 The goal of the leader is to minimize the winning coalition while making it easy for her to replace the essentials with the interchangeable， and to centralize control over the resources。 One of the main key points in the book is that a political leader has only two real objectives。 To come into power and to stay in power for as long as possible。 All of the major decisions they make are to achieve these objectives。Overall the book is packed with historical examples and does not only focus on obviously corrupted regimes but also explains how democratic governments and even public corporations also obey the rules。 It goes more into detail about resource control and the nature of policies。 The writing style is great but some of the vocabulary used is unnecessarily formal。 It looks more like a google translation or someone changing their high school essay to make it look less like the copy from the internet， nevertheless， I've learnt what "propensity to foment" is。 I would recommend anyone who is interested in politics and economics to read this as it helps to understand political systems and policies which inevitably govern our life。 It helps to decide which political structures to invest in and if you were a leader， how you are expected to operate in those political structures。 。。。more
Kleopatra
，
If you're searching for a solid argument （with rigorous， academic backing） but don't like to read all the statistical jargon， this is the book for you！The title is somewhat misleading （probs some publisher trying to make the book sound catchy - hey， it worked on me！）: the book is not just about dictators。 This book makes a compelling argument to explain how ALL politics work。 Essentially， the authors say that politics is about getting in power and staying in power。 It strikes a somewhat cynical If you're searching for a solid argument （with rigorous， academic backing） but don't like to read all the statistical jargon， this is the book for you！The title is somewhat misleading （probs some publisher trying to make the book sound catchy - hey， it worked on me！）: the book is not just about dictators。 This book makes a compelling argument to explain how ALL politics work。 Essentially， the authors say that politics is about getting in power and staying in power。 It strikes a somewhat cynical tone， but I think they have a point。 I found the chapters explaining foreign aid， popular protests， and war-making to be the most interesting。 Spoiler alert: they are all extensions of the main argument， meaning country leaders engage with these opportunities or threats to their rule according to their No。1 interest， a。k。a。 staying in power。 Sounds so simple， but I promise that the way they build their argument is pretty impressive。What I found weak （and it kinda disappointed me tbh） was their "how do we fix this？" argument。 I don't want to spoil every detail， but I just think that their proposed solutions do not *necessarily* lead in the desired change， i。e。 forcing leaders to act in the interest of the general public。 But that's just me。Overall， I enjoyed it and I would recommend it to a fellow politics/international relations nerd。 。。。more
S
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Ready for my own nation from which you will never escape！ Mwhahahahaha！
Gustavo Valencia
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Totally misleading title。 Sort of click bate of books。 Summary of actions but no real insight into minds or how it's different to the alternative。 Totally misleading title。 Sort of click bate of books。 Summary of actions but no real insight into minds or how it's different to the alternative。 。。。more
Marc
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A fascinating and terrifying read。The key ideas of this book were brought to me by a YouTube video of one of my favorite creators。https://youtu。be/rStL7niR7gsAt first， I thought this book was merely going to contain the more extended arguments that the video condenses down。 And it does！ But it also includes the historical statistical evidence that makes the concepts all the more real and chilling。I was also happily surprised that there were concepts covered in the book that were ultimately left A fascinating and terrifying read。The key ideas of this book were brought to me by a YouTube video of one of my favorite creators。https://youtu。be/rStL7niR7gsAt first， I thought this book was merely going to contain the more extended arguments that the video condenses down。 And it does！ But it also includes the historical statistical evidence that makes the concepts all the more real and chilling。I was also happily surprised that there were concepts covered in the book that were ultimately left out in the condensed video。 Such as， why foreign aid works the way it does， and why war works the way it does。If you are interested in politics at all， this is a must read。 A structural analysis that makes puts rulers in a context we can understand and more reasonably predict。 I thoroughly enjoyed this book。 。。。more
LENGDUNG TUNGCHAMMA
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A new way of thinking about everything politics。 Bleak， but quite instructive。
Nick Lucarelli
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Slightly tedious and reference-heavy but well thought- and laid-out assessment of the civilisation-long struggle for democracy and freedom in the developed and developing worlds alike。 The motives of the global proponents of free and fair elections， transparent use of foreign aid， universal health care / basic utilities， a split between law / state / military and wealth redistributions often seem to lie in the financial and monetary realms rather than ethical / moral ones。
Alex Guo
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It' s a very good， easily digestible beginner's look at selectorate theory。 Although I wish it was more in depth and there seems to not be any counter examples to China and Singapore breaking these rules。 There's also some minor bias towards poor people and charities or charity like systems that are supposed to help them。 It' s a very good， easily digestible beginner's look at selectorate theory。 Although I wish it was more in depth and there seems to not be any counter examples to China and Singapore breaking these rules。 There's also some minor bias towards poor people and charities or charity like systems that are supposed to help them。 。。。more
Marijan
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Book has some good points but it repeats itself way too often。
Kevin
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The thesis of this book--that all leadership is about getting and holding power--is almost annoyingly simple。 Even so， the thrust of the authors' argument is hard to refute and effectively explains why governments do what they do across the spectrum of democracy to authoritarianism。 Some may find this approach cynical and depressing while others （and I fall into this camp） will find this refreshingly apt and fascinating。 Whichever group you hail from， I think you will ultimately really appreciat The thesis of this book--that all leadership is about getting and holding power--is almost annoyingly simple。 Even so， the thrust of the authors' argument is hard to refute and effectively explains why governments do what they do across the spectrum of democracy to authoritarianism。 Some may find this approach cynical and depressing while others （and I fall into this camp） will find this refreshingly apt and fascinating。 Whichever group you hail from， I think you will ultimately really appreciate this book。 。。。more
Noe Pion
，
I completely agree with Andrej Karpathy's review at https://www。goodreads。com/review/show。。。The book， like many "one framework arguments" book， craft a quite cynical view on why organizations seem to always take bad decisions for those who they are supposed to serve。 Basically : they do not actually _need_ to serve them as they do not matter for the leaders to stay in power。 Thus， the book establishes democracies， which necessitate large coalitions， as the best organizational form for government I completely agree with Andrej Karpathy's review at https://www。goodreads。com/review/show。。。The book， like many "one framework arguments" book， craft a quite cynical view on why organizations seem to always take bad decisions for those who they are supposed to serve。 Basically : they do not actually _need_ to serve them as they do not matter for the leaders to stay in power。 Thus， the book establishes democracies， which necessitate large coalitions， as the best organizational form for governments。While the book provides a compelling argument about why democracy is the best at maximizing overall good， I think one of its weaknesses is that it does not consider the case of having too much democracy。 Can we do away with leaders， and just vote for everything ？ While it seems that it would best represent the wants of the people， I don't think it is advisable。 Thus， we need delegation of authority， but what is the right level for long-term success ？ The Weimar Republic failed quickly while giving broad rights of vote for its time， and led to Hitler。Interesting read， skip in the middle when it rehashes its main point for 100 pages。 。。。more
James Bailey
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Good as a manual for aspiring tyrants， but suprisingly great as an explanation for why many poor countries stay poor。In short， leaders' primary goal is to stay in power， and their secondary goal is to enrich themselves。 Staying in power is easier when the people have little freedom and little ability to communicate and coordinate， but restricting these freedoms also tends to suppress economic activity。 Leaders then aim to appropriate as much of the economy as possible for themselves （and， where Good as a manual for aspiring tyrants， but suprisingly great as an explanation for why many poor countries stay poor。In short， leaders' primary goal is to stay in power， and their secondary goal is to enrich themselves。 Staying in power is easier when the people have little freedom and little ability to communicate and coordinate， but restricting these freedoms also tends to suppress economic activity。 Leaders then aim to appropriate as much of the economy as possible for themselves （and， where necessary to maintain support， their essential backers）。 This further harms ordinary people， both by directly taking resources from them and by disincentivizing economic growth （because corrupt politicians or their cronies will just take what you build）。 Thus， poor countries are stuck being poor unless they get lucky with a benevolent dictator （though even a dictator who isn't personally greedy may be pushed by his greedy essential backers to plunder） or if the dictator is willing to risk losing power to grant more economic freedoms （so he can tax a larger economy， perhaps because another source of revenue like oil money or foreign aid is running out）。Bueno de Mesquita's is a political scientist but his analysis is very much economic， in both the methods （rational choice & methodological individualism） and in the focus on material incentives as the main driver of behavior。 I don't think he ever uses the phrase "public choice" but that is very much the spirit of the book。 Good writing & stories along with an illuminating overall theory。 。。。more
Jc Cadiz
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4。5Bad behavior is good politics， the goal of political survival is staying in power。 Based on research on selectorate theory in political science， The Dictator's Handbook paints an accessible exposition of Machiavellian politics in the 20th century。 While most might know autocracy as a brutish form of government， what I appreciate the most about the book is challenging and exposing the loopholes of free and rosy democracy。 The claim that democratic world leaders are honorable in their motives i 4。5Bad behavior is good politics， the goal of political survival is staying in power。 Based on research on selectorate theory in political science， The Dictator's Handbook paints an accessible exposition of Machiavellian politics in the 20th century。 While most might know autocracy as a brutish form of government， what I appreciate the most about the book is challenging and exposing the loopholes of free and rosy democracy。 The claim that democratic world leaders are honorable in their motives is truly questionable。 Finding the most legally clever ways to remain in office through strategies such as 'progressive' tax reform， foreign aid， and even sports， democratic leaders are able to keep their coalition satisfied and remain incumbent。The authors narrate case studies of governments and its transitions from leader to leader around the world。 The book makes known to its readers the mechanisms of both autocrats and even democratic leaders stay in power due to the nature of law and the political game。 。。。more
Olanrewaju Olamide
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