The Dictator's Handbook by Bruce Bueno de Mesquita and Alastair Smith

Join us in a discussion about the book "The Dictator's Handbook" by Bruce Bueno de Mesquita and Alastair Smith!

The venue has light pub fare, ice cream, and a great selection of both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. They also allow outside restaurant food, so bring something to eat if you need sustenance!

Book Description:

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.