(2005-12-03) Dictatorship And Democracy

Info about Economic Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy ISBN:0521855268 by Daron Acemoglu and James A Robinson (other pubs).

• For example, the geography of Peru hasn't changed, but in the 15th century, it was the center of the wealthy Inca civilization. Conversely, the Native American cultures of North America were far less advanced than the Incas, but today the United States is the world's wealthiest nation. The reversal of fortunes, Acemoglu argues, is because of the different political and social Institution-s colonial powers established, based on the conditions they found. In the sparsely populated American colonies, settlers created a relatively Open Society that allowed new players to participate in the economy and prosper. But in Peru, where the Spanish found a populous, Urban society, they exploited the conquered Incas, using them as slave labor and creating institutions that kept wealth in the hands of a few, ultimately resulting in an economy unable to renew itself and grow.

• One more recent scholar counted no fewer than 27 different factors that are said to promote democracy. This book is entirely free of such intellectual indecision. The authors are brutal wielders of Occam's razor, and the 27 factors have been chopped down to a coherent handful. This may leave a lot out, but what historians bemoan as simplistic, economists tend to celebrate as parsimonious.