The Dictators Handbook: Why Bad Behavior is Almost Always Good Politics

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.

Author(s): Bruce Bueno de Mesquita Alastair Smith

ISBN 10: 1610391845
ISBN 13: 9781610391849
Pages: 352

Find this book on Amazon

This books is in the following lists (2)

Related YouTube Videos (add a video)

Add the YouTube URL below and submit:

To add a YouTube video, please copy the video's URL on YouTube and submit by clicking "Add".
The URL should look something like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXQdBuuanI8

How to copy the videos URL from YouTube

No video yet, want to add one?

Related Articles (add an article)

Add an article URL below and submit:

To add an article, please paste the article's URL and submit by clicking "Add".
Below is an example of a valid URL:

How to copy and paste a webpage URL

No article found, do you know any related to this book?

Report an error with this book