The Dictator's Handbook

Date

2020/05/01

As part of Selectorate Theory there are three groups that impact political leaders
- Residents (disenfranchised)
- Selectorate (influentials)
- Winning Coalition (essentials)
The main differences between autocracies and democracies is the sizes of each group
- Autocracies like to keep the winning coalition small and the selectorate large
- Democracies are made up of larger winning coalition
  - Because the winning coalition is larger it is harder to pay off the winning coalition, so staying in power usually means having better ideas than your opponents
Rules To Rule By
- Politics is about keeping political power
- Political survival is best assured by depending on few people to attain and retain office
- When a small group knows that there is a large group waiting in line to be part of the small group, the small group can take advantage of the system with deals
Politics is about individuals, each motivated to do what is good for them, not for others
The self interested calculations and actions of rulers are the driving force of politics
Leaders cannot lead unilaterally
Paying supporters is the essence of ruling