The Logic of Political Survival

The authors of this ambitious book address a fundamental political question: why are leaders who produce peace and prosperity turned out of office while those who preside over corruption, war, and misery endure? Considering this political puzzle, they also answer the related economic question of why some countries experience successful economic development and others do not.The authors construct a provocative theory on the selection of leaders and present specific formal models from which their central claims can be deduced. They show how political leaders allocate resources and how institutions for selecting leaders create incentives for leaders to pursue good and bad public policy. They also extend the model to explain the consequences of war on political survival. Throughout the book, they provide illustrations from history, ranging from ancient Sparta to Vichy France, and test the model against statistics gathered from cross-national data. The authors explain the political intuition underlying their theory in nontechnical language, reserving formal proofs for chapter appendixes. They conclude by presenting policy prescriptions based on what has been demonstrated theoretically and empirically.

ISBN 0262524406   Pages 550 ISBN13 9780262524407 (What's this?)   Volumes 1 Publisher MIT Press Ltd   Weight (grammes) 839 Imprint MIT Press   Published in Cambridge, Mass. Format Paperback   Previous ISBN 9780262025461 Publication date 08 Feb 2005   Height (mm) 229 Library of Congress JA   Width (mm) 178 DEWEY 324.22   Spine width (mm) 31 DEWEY edition DC22   Academic level Professional / Scholarly

" The Logic of Political Survival takes up the big question that has long puzzled social scientists of all stripes--why do governments that cripple or destroy their own societies survive in office for so long? The authors offer a detailed and convincing theory and subject that theory to withering examination by the data. A must-read for anyone who seeks to understand the fate of nations." William Easterly, Professor of Economics, New York University, and author of The Elusive Quest for Growth "*The Logic of Political Survival* takes up the big question that has long puzzled social scientists of all stripes -- why do governments that cripple or destroy their own societies survive in office for so long? The authors offer a detailed and convincing theory and subject that theory to withering examination by the data. A must-read for anyone who seeks to understand the fate of nations."--William Easterly, Professor of Economics, New York University, and author of The Elusive Quest for Growth and The White Man's Burden

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