The Dictator's Handbook: Why Bad Behavior is Almost Always Good Politics

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PublicAffairs, 27 sept. 2011 - 319 pages
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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.

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LibraryThing Review

Avis d'utilisateur  - addunn3 - LibraryThing

The authors research what makes leaders act the way they do. And, it has nothing to do with what "we the people" want. It is about satisfying the needs of their "essential" supporters. Interesting concept, with many examples to support their key points. Consulter l'avis complet

LibraryThing Review

Avis d'utilisateur  - rivkat - LibraryThing

This disturbing and provocative book synthesizes a lot of political science research and starts from the proposition that leaders are always out for themselves and for their own political survival. It ... Consulter l'avis complet

Autres éditions - Tout afficher

The Dictator's Handbook: Why Bad Behavior is Almost Always Good Politics
Bruce Bueno de Mesquita,Alastair Smith
Aperçu limité - 2011
The Dictator's Handbook: Why Bad Behavior is Almost Always Good Politics
Bruce Bueno de Mesquita,Alastair Smith
Aucun aperçu disponible - 2011

À propos de l'auteur (2011)

Bruce Bueno de Mesquita is the Julius Silver Professor of Politics and director of the Alexander Hamilton Center for Political Economy at New York University. He is the author of 16 books, including The Predictioneer’s Game.   Alastair Smith is professor of politics at New York University. The recipient of three grants from the National Science Foundation and author of three books, he was chosen as the 2005 Karl Deutsch Award winner, given biennially to the best international relations scholar under the age of 40.

Informations bibliographiques

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TitreThe Dictator's Handbook: Why Bad Behavior is Almost Always Good Politics
AuteursBruce Bueno de Mesquita, Alastair Smith
Éditionillustrée
ÉditeurPublicAffairs, 2011
ISBN161039044X, 9781610390446
Longueur319 pages
  
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