# The dictator's handbook #book #referencenote # Metadata - Author: [[Bruce Bueno de Mesquita]] and [[Alastair Smith]] - Publication date: 1 September 2001 - date of reading: not sure - [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dictator's_Handbook) # Summary An amazing book that simplifies the drivers of people in power to the point of making them understandable. ## From wikipedia > Bueno de Mesquita and Smith argue that politicians, regardless of whether they are in [authoritarian](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Authoritarian "Authoritarian") dictatorships or in [democracies](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democracies "Democracies"), must stay in power by pleasing a core inner circle of power brokers, and that politicians must engage in self-interested behavior in order to stay in power. They argued that the motives of politicians are "To come to power, to stay in power and, to the extent that they can, to keep control over money." The main difference between the scenarios of democratic and authoritarian politicians is that democratic politicians have to please a large number of power brokers and/or the public at large while authoritarian ones please relatively small circles. These are referred to as large coalition governments and small coalition governments. These differences are illustrated in the infrastructure developed in authoritarian and democratic societies. In addition, authoritarian rulers, due to their smaller circles of power brokers, tend to have longer periods of power. The authors also stated that politicians usually do beneficial acts when these acts benefit them or when they must do the acts. The book also argues that aid to [third-world](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third-world "Third-world") countries benefits authoritarian governments, though it can be reformed to help those who need it.