Ronald Wintrobe
Biographic Data
| ID | 1073020 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Ronald Wintrobe |
| GIVEN NAMES | Ronald |
| FAMILY NAME | Wintrobe |
| SIGNATURE | WINTROBE R |
| AFFILIATIONS | Western University |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-4671-2532 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 25 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 255 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 19 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 6 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1975 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2020 |
| H-INDEX | 6 |
Explaining the Paradox of Plebiscites
Recent referendums show that autocratic regimes consult voters even if the outcome is a foregone conclusion. They have been doing so with increasing frequency since Napoleon consulted French citizens in 1800. Why and when do dictatorial regimes hold referendums they are certain they will win? Analysing the 162 referendums held in autocratic and non-free states in the period 1800–2012, the article shows that referendums with a 99% yes-vote tend to…
Adam Smith and the Buddha
Economics is a powerful way of thinking. While there may occasionally be major errors in its application, at its core the principles of economics remain the strongest paradigm in the social sciences. Buddhism is also a powerful way of thinking. The central question in Buddhist philosophy is the same as that in economics: what is the key to human happiness? How can human suffering be reduced? But the answer to this question in the Buddhist way of …
An economic theory of a hybrid (competitive authoritarian or illiberal) regime
The Economics of Transparency in Politics
Autocracy and coups d’etat
Dictatorship
This article provides a survey of the work on authoritarianism, which takes an ‘economic’ or rational choice approach. The survey focuses mainly on two issues: the behaviour of dictators and the comparison of their economic performance and redistributive tendencies with democracies. It outlines the author's model about the behaviour of dictators, and then moves on to more recent contributions, such as the important developments within the North f…
Political Economy of Theocracy
The Political Economy of Theocracy
This book consists of essays by leading scholars in economics and political science which try deepen our understanding of how theocratic regimes behave, by providing up to date empirical surveys by le
Rational Extremism
Extremists are people whose ideas or tactics are viewed as outside the mainstream. Looked at this way, extremists are not necessarily twisted or evil. But they can be, especially when they are intolerant and violent. What makes extremists turn violent? This 2006 book assumes that extremists are rational: given their ends, they choose the best means to achieve them. The analysis explains why extremist leaders use the tactics they do, and why they …
Extremism, suicide terror, and authoritarianism
Rational Foundations of Democratic Politics
Democracy is widely accepted today, perhaps as never before, as the most suitable form of government. But what is democracy, and does it always produce good government? Democracy is often associated with the existence of competitive elections. But theory and experience suggest that these are not sufficient for democracy to function reasonably well. In this book, which was originally published in 2003, a number of experts from North America and Eu…
Political Extremism and Rationality
Political extremism is widely considered to be the product of irrational behavior. Originally published in 2002, the distinguishing feature of this collection by well-known economists and political scientists from North America, Europe and Australia is to propose a variety of explanations which all insist on the rationality of extremism. Contributors use variants of this approach to shed light on subjects such as the conditions under which democr…
Mancur Olson, Power and prosperity
The Political Economy of Dictatorship
Although much of the world still lives today, as always, under dictatorship, the behaviour of these regimes and of their leaders often appears irrational and mysterious. In The Political Economy of Dictatorship, Ronald Wintrobe uses rational choice theory to model dictatorships: their strategies for accumulating power, the constraints on their behavior, and why they are often more popular than is commonly accepted. The book explores both the poli…
The Political Economy of Dictatorship
Understanding Democracy
Democracy has moved to the centre of systemic reflections on political economy, gaining a position which used to be occupied by the debate about socialism and capitalism. Certitudes about democracy have been replaced by an awareness of the elusiveness and fluidity of democratic institutions and of the multiplicity of dimensions involved. This is a book which reflects this intellectual situation. It consists of a collection of essays by well-known…
The Competitive State
The Tinpot and the Totalitarian
I use basic tools of economic theory to construct a simple model of the behavior of dictatorships. Two extreme cases are considered: a "tin-pot" dictatorship, in which the dictator wishes only to minimize the costs of remaining in power in order to collect the fruits of office (palaces, Mercedes-Benzes, Swiss bank accounts), and a "totalitarian" dictatorship, whose leader maximizes power over the population. I show that the two differ in their re…
The Bureaucracy of Murder Revisited
The paper reexamines the question of the guilt of subordinates in large organizations, a question posed with special force by Hannah Arendt in her book on Adolf Eichmann. He consistently claimed innocence on the ground that he was only following orders. Arendt accepted this picture of the regime but nevertheless indicted him for "crimes against humanity." The paper suggests that this model of the Nazi bureaucracy is false: in the Nazi bureaucracy…
Economic Behaviour within Organizations
This book provides a comprehensive economic analysis of the internal working of organizations. Its attention to the role of information costs in influencing the breadth of discretion that members of an organization have, and the nature and effectiveness of the constraints that can be put upon them, leads to many important hypotheses about organizational behavior. These hypotheses are relevant to both private and public organizations, to charitabl…
The Logic of Bureaucratic Conduct
The Logic of Bureaucratic Conduct
The Logic of Bureaucratic Conduct
Journal Article The Logic of Bureaucratic Conduct: An Economic Analysis of Competition, Exchange, and Efficiency in Private and Public Organizations Get access The Logic of Bureaucratic Conduct: An Economic Analysis of Competition, Exchange, and Efficiency in Private and Public Organizations. By ALBERT BRETON and RONALD WINTROBE. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1982. Pp. xi + 195. £15.00.) P. M. Jackson P. M. Jackson University of Leicest…
Bureaucracy and state intervention
Parkinson's Law is the popular idea that bureaucrats or administrators are bound to multiply. The basis for the Law was Parkinson's observation that, in some organizations, the number of administrators continued to increase even when the organization, as measured either by its output or the size of its direct labour force, was declining. This paper first considers two popular explanations of this phenomenon: the political monopoly model and the m…
The Equilibrium Size of a Budget-maximizing Bureau
The Tinpot and the Totalitarian
I use basic tools of economic theory to construct a simple model of the behavior of dictatorships. Two extreme cases are considered: a "tin-pot" dictatorship, in which the dictator wishes only to minimize the costs of remaining in power in order to collect the fruits of office (palaces, Mercedes-Benzes, Swiss bank accounts), and a "totalitarian" dictatorship, whose leader maximizes power over the population. I show that the two differ in their re…
The Equilibrium Size of a Budget-maximizing Bureau
The Bureaucracy of Murder Revisited
The paper reexamines the question of the guilt of subordinates in large organizations, a question posed with special force by Hannah Arendt in her book on Adolf Eichmann. He consistently claimed innocence on the ground that he was only following orders. Arendt accepted this picture of the regime but nevertheless indicted him for "crimes against humanity." The paper suggests that this model of the Nazi bureaucracy is false: in the Nazi bureaucracy…
Extremism, suicide terror, and authoritarianism
Bureaucracy and state intervention
Parkinson's Law is the popular idea that bureaucrats or administrators are bound to multiply. The basis for the Law was Parkinson's observation that, in some organizations, the number of administrators continued to increase even when the organization, as measured either by its output or the size of its direct labour force, was declining. This paper first considers two popular explanations of this phenomenon: the political monopoly model and the m…
Explaining the Paradox of Plebiscites
Recent referendums show that autocratic regimes consult voters even if the outcome is a foregone conclusion. They have been doing so with increasing frequency since Napoleon consulted French citizens in 1800. Why and when do dictatorial regimes hold referendums they are certain they will win? Analysing the 162 referendums held in autocratic and non-free states in the period 1800–2012, the article shows that referendums with a 99% yes-vote tend to…
The Political Economy of Dictatorship
An economic theory of a hybrid (competitive authoritarian or illiberal) regime
The Logic of Bureaucratic Conduct
Journal Article The Logic of Bureaucratic Conduct: An Economic Analysis of Competition, Exchange, and Efficiency in Private and Public Organizations Get access The Logic of Bureaucratic Conduct: An Economic Analysis of Competition, Exchange, and Efficiency in Private and Public Organizations. By ALBERT BRETON and RONALD WINTROBE. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1982. Pp. xi + 195. £15.00.) P. M. Jackson P. M. Jackson University of Leicest…
Autocracy and coups d’etat
The Logic of Bureaucratic Conduct
Adam Smith and the Buddha
Economics is a powerful way of thinking. While there may occasionally be major errors in its application, at its core the principles of economics remain the strongest paradigm in the social sciences. Buddhism is also a powerful way of thinking. The central question in Buddhist philosophy is the same as that in economics: what is the key to human happiness? How can human suffering be reduced? But the answer to this question in the Buddhist way of …
The Equilibrium Size of a Budget-maximizing Bureau
Bureaucracy and state intervention
Parkinson's Law is the popular idea that bureaucrats or administrators are bound to multiply. The basis for the Law was Parkinson's observation that, in some organizations, the number of administrators continued to increase even when the organization, as measured either by its output or the size of its direct labour force, was declining. This paper first considers two popular explanations of this phenomenon: the political monopoly model and the m…
The Logic of Bureaucratic Conduct
The Logic of Bureaucratic Conduct
Journal Article The Logic of Bureaucratic Conduct: An Economic Analysis of Competition, Exchange, and Efficiency in Private and Public Organizations Get access The Logic of Bureaucratic Conduct: An Economic Analysis of Competition, Exchange, and Efficiency in Private and Public Organizations. By ALBERT BRETON and RONALD WINTROBE. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1982. Pp. xi + 195. £15.00.) P. M. Jackson P. M. Jackson University of Leicest…
The Logic of Bureaucratic Conduct
Economic Behaviour within Organizations
This book provides a comprehensive economic analysis of the internal working of organizations. Its attention to the role of information costs in influencing the breadth of discretion that members of an organization have, and the nature and effectiveness of the constraints that can be put upon them, leads to many important hypotheses about organizational behavior. These hypotheses are relevant to both private and public organizations, to charitabl…
The Bureaucracy of Murder Revisited
The paper reexamines the question of the guilt of subordinates in large organizations, a question posed with special force by Hannah Arendt in her book on Adolf Eichmann. He consistently claimed innocence on the ground that he was only following orders. Arendt accepted this picture of the regime but nevertheless indicted him for "crimes against humanity." The paper suggests that this model of the Nazi bureaucracy is false: in the Nazi bureaucracy…
The Competitive State
The Tinpot and the Totalitarian
I use basic tools of economic theory to construct a simple model of the behavior of dictatorships. Two extreme cases are considered: a "tin-pot" dictatorship, in which the dictator wishes only to minimize the costs of remaining in power in order to collect the fruits of office (palaces, Mercedes-Benzes, Swiss bank accounts), and a "totalitarian" dictatorship, whose leader maximizes power over the population. I show that the two differ in their re…
Understanding Democracy
Democracy has moved to the centre of systemic reflections on political economy, gaining a position which used to be occupied by the debate about socialism and capitalism. Certitudes about democracy have been replaced by an awareness of the elusiveness and fluidity of democratic institutions and of the multiplicity of dimensions involved. This is a book which reflects this intellectual situation. It consists of a collection of essays by well-known…
The Political Economy of Dictatorship
Although much of the world still lives today, as always, under dictatorship, the behaviour of these regimes and of their leaders often appears irrational and mysterious. In The Political Economy of Dictatorship, Ronald Wintrobe uses rational choice theory to model dictatorships: their strategies for accumulating power, the constraints on their behavior, and why they are often more popular than is commonly accepted. The book explores both the poli…
The Political Economy of Dictatorship
Mancur Olson, Power and prosperity
Political Extremism and Rationality
Political extremism is widely considered to be the product of irrational behavior. Originally published in 2002, the distinguishing feature of this collection by well-known economists and political scientists from North America, Europe and Australia is to propose a variety of explanations which all insist on the rationality of extremism. Contributors use variants of this approach to shed light on subjects such as the conditions under which democr…
Rational Foundations of Democratic Politics
Democracy is widely accepted today, perhaps as never before, as the most suitable form of government. But what is democracy, and does it always produce good government? Democracy is often associated with the existence of competitive elections. But theory and experience suggest that these are not sufficient for democracy to function reasonably well. In this book, which was originally published in 2003, a number of experts from North America and Eu…
Rational Extremism
Extremists are people whose ideas or tactics are viewed as outside the mainstream. Looked at this way, extremists are not necessarily twisted or evil. But they can be, especially when they are intolerant and violent. What makes extremists turn violent? This 2006 book assumes that extremists are rational: given their ends, they choose the best means to achieve them. The analysis explains why extremist leaders use the tactics they do, and why they …
Extremism, suicide terror, and authoritarianism
Dictatorship
This article provides a survey of the work on authoritarianism, which takes an ‘economic’ or rational choice approach. The survey focuses mainly on two issues: the behaviour of dictators and the comparison of their economic performance and redistributive tendencies with democracies. It outlines the author's model about the behaviour of dictators, and then moves on to more recent contributions, such as the important developments within the North f…
Political Economy of Theocracy
The Political Economy of Theocracy
This book consists of essays by leading scholars in economics and political science which try deepen our understanding of how theocratic regimes behave, by providing up to date empirical surveys by le
Autocracy and coups d’etat
The Economics of Transparency in Politics
An economic theory of a hybrid (competitive authoritarian or illiberal) regime
Adam Smith and the Buddha
Economics is a powerful way of thinking. While there may occasionally be major errors in its application, at its core the principles of economics remain the strongest paradigm in the social sciences. Buddhism is also a powerful way of thinking. The central question in Buddhist philosophy is the same as that in economics: what is the key to human happiness? How can human suffering be reduced? But the answer to this question in the Buddhist way of …
Explaining the Paradox of Plebiscites
Recent referendums show that autocratic regimes consult voters even if the outcome is a foregone conclusion. They have been doing so with increasing frequency since Napoleon consulted French citizens in 1800. Why and when do dictatorial regimes hold referendums they are certain they will win? Analysing the 162 referendums held in autocratic and non-free states in the period 1800–2012, the article shows that referendums with a 99% yes-vote tend to…
Law (21 works) · Political science (21 works) · Politics (18 works) · Economics (17 works) · Political economy (14 works) · Democracy (11 works) · Law (11 works) · Sociology (11 works) · Authoritarianism (6 works) · Bureaucracy (6 works)