The Dictator's Handbook

Why Bad Behavior Is Almost Always Good Politics

By: Bruce Bueno de Mesquita, Alastair Smith

Narrated by: Dan Woren

Now featuring a new chapter on the rise of illiberalism worldwide.

The essential book that lays out the real rules of politics: leaders do whatever keeps them in power, regardless of the national interest.

As featured in the viral video “Rules for Rulers,” which has been viewed over fifteen million times.

Bruce Bueno de Mesquita and Alastair Smith’s canonical book on political science turned conventional wisdom on its head. They started from a single assertion: leaders do whatever keeps them in power. They don’t care about the “national interest”—or even their subjects—unless they must.

Newly updated to reflect the global rise of authoritarianism, this clever and accessible book illustrates how leaders amass and retain power. 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.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2011 Bruce Bueno de Mesquita and Alastair Smith (P)2022 PublicAffairs

Critic reviews

"Simply the best book on politics written.... Every citizen should read this book." (CGP Grey)

"A lucidly written, shrewdly argued meditation on how democrats and dictators preserve political authority.... Bueno de Mesquita and Smith are polymathic, drawing on economics, history, and political science to make their points.... The reader will be hard-pressed to find a single government that doesn't largely operate according to Messrs. Bueno de Mesquita and Smith's model. So the next time a hand-wringing politician, Democrat or Republican, claims to be taking a position for the 'good of his country,' remember to replace the word 'country' with 'career.'" (Wall Street Journal)

"Machiavelli's The Prince has a new rival. It's The Dictator's Handbook by Bruce Bueno de Mesquita and Alastair Smith.... This is a fantastically thought-provoking read. I found myself not wanting to agree but actually, for the most part, being convinced that the cynical analysis is the true one." (Enlightenment Economics)

A solid grasp of the concepts—until recent times.

The author does a great job getting into the mechanics of the how and the why of human power dynamics in social structures—but then seems to throw them all out the window after Trump’s election in 2016. Perhaps he did not want to anger the current set of “key supporters.” His apparent sudden naïveté and myopic assessment of current times is surprising to the point where it almost seems intentional.

Extremely thought provoking

It's been a few weeks since I listened to this book, but I find myself thinking about it again and again. Very apt for these turmoil times.

Brilliant Insight, Tainted by Political Bias

Fascinating insight into power and corruption, with thought provoking recommendations. Credibility of the authors is somewhat tainted by political bias. They exhibit a penchant for picking Republicans as examples of negative behaviors while often steering away or softening examples involving Democrats. Their equating of illegal activity that occurred during January 6th 2021 Capitol Hill protests with the WWII attack on Pearl Harbor is unhinged from reality. Though framed in a way convenient to the narrative of the book, conscious or unconscious author bias detracts from an otherwise brilliant work.

Trump derangement syndrome?

The book starts out ok. The third world information and history is great. But when the author goes into US politics and economics, he definitely has a side he is rooting. I don’t know if he could be more obvious. I was really hoping for a none partisan book on dictatorship. Oh well. Be advised this author may a tendency of TDS.

Dry

Hard to get into, doesn’t go into details very well. Gives a broad overview of most circumstances and repeats a lot of the same information over and over again. Seemingly biased about the US politics concerning the most recent election, considering it covers fraud and corruption in other countries voting practices yet leaves out the 2020 election allegations.

An eye opening experience.

I enjoyed the historical context in which it was made well documented. A must read for anyone interested in political history.

Abundance of Statistics.

Good detailed dive into the fundamentals of political power dynamics. Authors discuss the causes and effects of the two major political power structures - autocratic and democratic. They provide abundant statistics and graphs to support their models and then weave examples and anecdotes throughout. Great read for today's changing world. I expect most of the hypothesis will still be relevent a century from now.

This Book Reminds me that Knowledge is Power

This book reminds me that knowledge is power, and the secrets I've learnt from this book make me want to keep it from the rest of the world. It outlines and describes the necessary steps to gain power and hold it in any political situation.

I struggle to write this review as I want to be the sole owner of this sacred knowledge, but I must give credit to where credit is due. The production team and updated version of this book is like the magician uncovering their secrets, taking away the smoke, lies and mirrors of politics giving us the simple trick in its stead.

This knowledge is more powerful the less people know about, but if you've reached this part of the review then you're just as ambitious as me and no words will divert you from your path to power.

Read this book and learn the secrets behind political hegemony.

Ideas about Autocracy and Democracy

Through these lenses of incentives so much seems clearer. Another title could have been The Economics of Politics. The authors lay out some seemingly good explanations and remedies.

Fantastic analysis of the World’s Politics

Unfortunately this book is not taught in schools, to inform their citizens how politics really works, and how to best understand how to influence their local governments to understand that if they do represent their interests they (the politicians) will be out of work. [of course this only works on democratic governments, such as for example the Constitutional Republic in the US]. Unfortunately people are too dumb and are not pursuing their interests through local governments.