The Dictator’s Handbook: Why Bad Behavior is Almost Always Good Politics

From the publisher's website:
Bruce Bueno de Mesquita and Alastair Smith’s canonical book on political science turns conventional wisdom on its head. They start from a single proposition: leaders do whatever keeps them in power. They don’t care about the “national interest”—or even their subjects—unless they must. As Bueno de Mesquita and Smith show, democracy is essentially just a convenient fiction. Governments do not differ in kind, but only in the number of essential supporters or backs that need scratching. The size of this group determines almost everything about politics: what leaders can get away with and the quality of life or misery under them. And it is also the key to returning power to the people.

How to find us:
We meet in the upstairs seating area at Zorba's in Dupont Circle. Look for a sign on a table with a picture of the book's cover on it.

Links:

• Bookshop: By purchasing your book through this link, you help support local bookstores and defray the cost of DCIA's Meetup subscription.
• Amazon
• Hachette Book Group
• Bruce Bueno de Mesquita's page at NYU
• Alastair Smith's page at NYU
• CGP Grey video "The Rules for Rulers", inspired by The Dictator's Handbook.