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

by Alastair Smith, Bruce Bueno de Mesquita, Alastair Smith

Book Overview

Now featuring a new chapter on the rise of illiberalism worldwide.

As featured in the viral video "Rules for Rulers," which has been viewed over fifteen million times.

Bruce Bueno de Mesquita and Alastair Smith's canonical book on political science turned conventional wisdom on its head. They started from a single assertion: leaders do whatever keeps them in power. They don't care about the "national interest"--or...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1541701364
• ISBN13: 9781541701366
• Release Date: April 2022
• Publisher: PublicAffairs
• Length: 400 Pages
• Weight: 0.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.4" x 5.4" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

Amoralistic, Realpolitik Examination of Politics.

The Handbook throws away what we know about idealism and nationalism. There's only a human element of self-survival at play. The book makes two assumptions. (1) Politicians/dictators are self-interested and seek to get power. (2) Once they get power, they do everything they can to keep power & get more. Every other assumption is based on the above thesis. With these two assumptions, we can examine other realms and see that similar patterns repeat themselves. Whether it be in business, municipalities, politics, the same rules hold true. Don't let the simpleness fool you, this book is well researched and all sources are cited. We then are able to break out the rules of political survival into 3 dimensions. There's a nominal class of "interchangeables", the "influencers" who actually hold voting power, and an "essential" coalition. The smaller the essential coalition is, the more sway a potential ruler could have. Only as long as he keeps them happy & well compensated. Those who don't pay their winning coalitions find themselves replaced by someone else. The authors take time to show how this same rule applies the same way in democracies & autocracies. Also explained is how the world of taxation, spending, foreign aid, warfare is an extension of politics. We see how large/small coalition governments react to the above topics. We also see why sometimes bad behavior is not necessarily bad politics. All-in-all, The Dictator's Handbook is an interesting and well-researched book. It gives its central thesis at the beginning and draws all arguments after that. All sources are well-cited which I greatly enjoyed. It's a great primer into the world of realpolitik and helps its audience take a different view of politics. The only complaint I have is that this book can be a bit dense at times and the authors repeat themselves here and there. Yet, understanding the research that went into this book, I can't blame them for that. 4.5/5. Rounded to 5/5. Great read.