The Political Economy of Dictatorship

Ronald Wintrobe author

Format:Hardback

Publisher:Cambridge University Press

Published:28th Mar '98

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The Political Economy of Dictatorship cover

This book uses rational choice theory to understand the behaviour of dictators.

Although much of the world still lives under dictatorship, the behaviour of these regimes and of their leaders often appears irrational and mysterious. This book uses rational choice theory to understand dictators: How do 'successful' dictatorships stay in power? What determines the repressiveness of a regime? How do their economies work?Although much of the world still lives today, as always, under dictatorship, the behaviour of these regimes and of their leaders often appears irrational and mysterious. In The Political Economy of Dictatorship, Ronald Wintrobe uses rational choice theory to model dictatorships: their strategies for accumulating power, the constraints on their behavior, and why they are often more popular than is commonly accepted. The book explores both the politics and the economics of dictatorships, and the interaction between them. The questions addressed include: What determines the repressiveness of a regime? Can political authoritarianism be 'good' for the economy? After the fall, who should be held responsible for crimes against human rights? The book contains many applications, including chapters on Nazi Germany, Soviet Communism, South Africa under apartheid, the ancient Roman Empire and Pinochet's Chile. It also provides a guide to the policies which should be followed by the democracies towards dictatorships.

'This is an important book and essential reading for students of democratization, especially, but alas! not exclusively, the democratization of authoritarian regimes.' Peter Calvert, University of Southampton

ISBN: 9780521583299

Dimensions: 237mm x 161mm x 27mm

Weight: 730g

402 pages