Political Order and Political Decay: From the Industrial Revolution to the Globalization of Democracy

Democracy leads to corruption and clientelism. Politicians will grant favors to get votes. This is especially challenging with states with a democracy before having a strong culture. The US had a really bad case of various types of corruption and clientelism, but managed to escape the worst of it, in part through wars. Japan had the strong culture before democracy and didn't have as much corruption. Many African countries were just carved out with arbitrary lines and are often basket cases. A group will tend to favor others in their group rather than the country as a whole.

The number of different veto points can influence a country. The British system with a powerful house and strong party system is a democracy that can get things done. China's one party state is even more effective. The United States has many different veto points. This makes things much slower and also enables many influencers to get their special favors. The United States has also deferred excessively to the legal system. Anyone willing to bankroll a lawsuit can exercise a form a veto power.

With a large country, bureaucrats are needed. The best systems let independent experts exercise autonomy in their area of expertise. Unfortunately, politicians like the meddle. Micromanagement or conflicting mandates make for a worse and inefficient government. A system is most effective if the government is run by employees chosen and dismissed based on merit. Letting a new ruler replace all the employees is bad as is letting government employees protect their positions with civil service unions. (Though the type of union can make a difference - cooperative unions like those in Northern Europe are beneficial.)

The book can be repetitive as it traces the examples of many different countries and how they have effectively (or not so effectively) developed political systems and how those systems have decayed. Countries are often heavily influenced by the system that was in place when they were formed as a modern entity. Latin American countries continue with the Spanish heritage that steer them in certain directions. There are also independent decisions that help make one country progress at a different speed than another. A stable rule of law may mean less short term gain for individual rent seekers, but will provide better long term outcome for all.