Book · 2011 · Political Science
The Dictator's Handbook
Why Bad Behavior is Almost Always Good Politics
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I remember talking with oh man, his name is Alistair. He wrote the dictator's handbook.
The best things said about it
And I see the same pattern and tactics, and there is something called "The Dictator's Handbook", right? And I feel like that's what America's doing right now.
Yeonmi Park The Rubin Report · Mar 2023 There's a funny kind of thing on this which uh i think it's called like the dictator's handbook or something.
Where and when it comes up
Most mentions, by podcast
Why people recommend it
The Dictator's Handbook: Why Bad Behavior is Almost Always Good Politics by Bruce Bueno de Mesquita and Alastair Smith is a political science text that explains how authoritarian leaders maintain power by satisfying a small coalition of essential supporters rather than the general public. On The Jordan Harbinger Show, Jordan Harbinger repeatedly referenced the book across multiple episodes—having previously interviewed co-author Alastair Smith—to explain the rational mechanics behind why dictators prefer competing factions and how they keep kleptocrats and organized crime figures pacified. Yeonmi Park referenced the underlying political tactics described in the book during an appearance on The Rubin Report, comparing them to concerning modern governance trends observed in the United States. Balaji Srinivasan also brought up the book on The Realignment to illustrate how leaders, generals, and corporate executives maintain reciprocal, self-serving relationships with the subordinates who keep them in power. Across these discussions, the book is cited as a cynical yet profoundly accurate manual for decoding the survival strategies of autocrats, bosses, and political operators across diverse institutional settings.
Every mention
Jordan Harbinger I remember talking with oh man, his name is Alistair. He wrote the dictator's handbook. 3
“I remember talking with oh man, his name is Alistair. He wrote the dictator's handbook.”
“the dictators handbook is something I read for the show episode 794 and I think Alistair Smith who came on the show he I think he was the one who talked about you”
“I know we did an episode about the dictator's handbook with Alistair Smith's episode 794 and 795 and one of the things he brought up”
Balaji Srinivasan there's a funny kind of thing on this which uh i think it's called like the dictator's handbook or something 1
“there's a funny kind of thing on this which uh i think it's called like the dictator's handbook or something”
Yeonmi Park And I see the same pattern and tactics, and there is something called "The Dictator's Handbook", right? And… 1
“And I see the same pattern and tactics, and there is something called "The Dictator's Handbook", right? And I feel like that's what America's doing right now.”
Also mentioned in the same episodes
Other mentions (1: passing, ad reads, own books)
“actually on that we we found out from when the books published in Chinese uh the dictator's handbooks published in Chinese and it was only when some scholar wrote to us and said did you know your book's been”