The Dictators Handbook: Unlocking the Secrets of Political Power Through Understanding Bad Behavior

WindowShopper: I like the book a lot. It is rational. Giving a good overview that you can adopt and use. Buy it!

Germany on Oct 07, 2023

Stéphane Palardy: While reading this book, I felt like Neo realizing the existence of the Matrix… you see the business, internal politics and world affairs with a different perspective…

An absolute must read…

Canada on Oct 01, 2023

Amazon Kunde: Disclaimer: I only got half through the book. Might edit if I manage to finish.

As a reader who doesn't come from political sciences, I hoped for insights into "why bad behavior is almost always good politics" – which is what the book promises. I do seem to get an insight; a singular one about what a winning coalition is, who is essential and who isn't, and why coalition size is important.
This is not a bad insight at all. The trouble is that it is used for everything, and everything is reduced to this question. And then it gets reiterated example after example. Some are good. Some seem forced. Some seem to be personal tangents about taxes and so on. It is easily written, but it is too repetitive to keep my attention.
I think this book could have worked even with this single explanation for everything, if only it had been presented with deliberately over-the top, tongue-in-cheek cynicism. That could have been funny. As it is, it still comes across as nihilistic.
Sorry, can not recommend.

Germany on Apr 15, 2023

/recon: I found "The Dictator's Handbook" to be a fascinating and insightful read. The authors present a compelling argument that political leaders, whether democratic or autocratic, are primarily motivated by the desire to stay in power and maximize their own personal gain. Their analysis is based on extensive research and case studies from around the world, and they make a strong case that leaders who prioritize the interests of their supporters and maintain a tight grip on power are more likely to succeed in achieving their goals.

While I appreciated the authors' clear and engaging writing style, I did find some of the content to be a bit dense and technical at times. Additionally, I think the book could benefit from more concrete examples and case studies to illustrate some of the more abstract concepts. That being said, I would highly recommend "The Dictator's Handbook" to anyone interested in understanding the dynamics of power and politics. Whether you're a student of political science or just a curious reader, this book is sure to challenge your assumptions and deepen your understanding of how the world works.

United States on Feb 20, 2023

Leonhard Lagrange: 1. Kurzfazit:

Bruce Bueno de Mesquita und Alastair Smith verstehen es auf kurzweilige Weise ihre politikwissenschaftliche Theorie zu vermitteln. Viele gute Beispiele beleuchten das Handeln der Mächtigen in Politik und Wirtschaft aus einem ganz neuen Blickwinkel. Durchaus ein empfehlenswertes Buch, das den Horizont erweitert.

2. Inhalt:

Im Grunde arbeiten die beiden Autoren den Stoff Ihres vorherigen Werkes "The Logic of Political Survival" populärwissenschaftlich auf. Es dreht sich um die Selektorats-Theroie, welche erklärt, wie Menschen in Machtpositionen - vor allem Autokraten, aber auch demokratische Politiker oder Vorstände von Großunternehmen - die Macht ergreifen und erhalten können. Von Kapitel zu Kapitel wird diese Theorie stückweise dem Leser näher gebracht und ausgebaut. Ich fand die Ausführungen gut verständlich und nachvollziehbar. Im Alltag kann dies durchaus nützlich sein, um geopolitische Vorgänge besser zu verstehen und mündigere politische Entscheidungen zu treffen.

3. Schreibstil:

Es handelt sich natürlich immer noch um ein Sachbuch, aber die Autoren versuchen die grundsätzlich etwas trockene Materie mit vielen...

Germany on Oct 01, 2019

Jen: Ok, so read the most insightful book I have come across in a long while - it's a modern day version of Machiavelli's "the prince".
The book is a cynical take about the real pragmatics and incentives of what goes on to stay in political power - not how it should be, but what it is.

The premise of the book is that the relative size, nature and power of the masses and your key supporters/ coalition determines how things work.
Leaders cannot rule unilaterally, they need backers who have to be (metaphorically) fed otherwise they will withdraw that support and governments fall. Ideology, values, religion, etc do set context, but the above frames what is possible and likely. The masses outside of that coalition are irrelevant other than if they revolt

Dictators have a very small key coalition (and the smaller and easily they are replaceable the better and cheaper for him to buy their support - i.e. bribe). Democracies have a large coalition (i.e. most of the population) so you stay in power by providing public goods people want as just too many to bribe.

Basically, money can be spent on 3 groups - yourself, the population, your key supporters.
You need to...

Canada on Jul 23, 2018

Tiger CheeseSteak: Mesquita and Smith write a compelling book and engaging read comparable to “Freakonomics” in style. The authors seek to use simple economic logic to explain the staying power of dictators. This might be a foregone conclusion for many- dictators are synonymous with mean nasty people that take away free speech, freedom to assemble, they lower education and health standards, and lower access to political participation. Dictators simply stay in power because they take power away from everyone else and do their best to keep it that way.

The book begins with a “dictator” story of an elected city manager, Robert Rizzo, in the small town of Bell, California. The authors take away the ugly dictator mask and present the idea that anyone- even a Western, elected, white politician in small town USA can be dictator. Their thesis is that all leaders rely on people following them and they stay in power by keeping their following happy, not too powerful, and relying on them as the sole head-honcho. They authors divide the constituency into three parts- the nominal selectorate (pretty much everyone), the real selectorate (those who make a difference), and the winning coalition...

United States on May 19, 2015

Chris Larkin: The Dictator's Handbook by Bruce Bueno de Mesquita and Alastair Smith is in many ways trying to be The Selfish Gene of political science. It's a mass appeal non-fiction book that advances a new theory of analysis in their respect fields written in a forceful charismatic style.

The basic theory of The Dictator's Handbook is Selectorate Theory. Selectorate Theory has three basic parts. The first is that leaders will do whatever they can to stay in power regardless of all other factors. The logic of this is that if the leader wouldn't do this, they would be replaced by someone who would.

The second part is that from the leader's point of view there are three groups of people. The first is the interchangables who is everyone is who has at least a nominal say in choosing the leader (such as all voters). For the most part, leaders don't really care about this group except to play against the other two groups (which are subsets of interchangables). The next group are the influential which is everyone who's say actually matters in choosing the leader (such as the majority party in a parliamentary election). The leader has to pay some attention to this group especially in...

United States on Jul 23, 2014