How to understand, and deal with dictatorship an strongeconomiststrong’s.pdfVIP

Econ. Gov. (2001) 2: 35–58 c Springer-Verlag 2001 How to understand, and deal with dictatorship: an economist’s view Ronald Wintrobe Professor of Economics and Co-Director, Political Economy Research Group, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario N6A5C2, Canada Received: February 1999 / Accepted: 10 November 1999 Abstract. This paper explains in simple English some of the main ideas about autocracy first developed elsewhere (e.g., in my book, The Political Economy of Dictatorship (Cambridge University Press, 1998). I use rational choice theory to explain the behavior of dictatorships and develop policy toward them. Issues discussed in this paper include: How do successful regimes stay in power? What determines the repressiveness of a regime? Which type of regime redistributes more, dictatorship or democracy? Can dictatorships be good for economic growth and efficiency? The starting point of my analysis is The Dictator’s Dilemma- the insecurity every dictator necessarily experiences about how much support he really has. Because of this, the dictator finds that the tool of repression is not enough to maintain his regime, and successful dictators typically rule with the loyal support of at least some groups of subjects (while repressing others). The levels of repression and support and the nature of the groups that give their support (labor, business, ethnic group, etc.) determine the character of the dictatorship. Among other results discussed, I show that some types of dictators – tinpots and timocrats – respond to an improvement in economic performance by lowering repression, while others – totalitarians and tyrants – respond by raising it. Finally I discuss optimal policy by the democracies toward