Working Paper: CEPR ID: DP16695
Authors: Marcus Miller; Ben Zissimos
Abstract: From a wide-ranging historical survey, Acemoglu and Robinson conclude that the preservation of liberty depends on being in a ‘narrow corridor’ where there is a balance of power between the state and society. We first examine the support Binmore's game-theoretic treatment of Social Contracts provides for such a ‘narrow corridor’ of liberty and justice – and what extremes to expect without them. We also consider how the biological model of Competing Species helps to describe the dynamics of conflicting powers outside the narrow corridor– where, as in contemporary Russia and China, any Social Contracts that exist are neither free nor fair.
Keywords: liberty; social contracts; repeated games; competing species; anarchy; despotism; neofeudalism
JEL Codes: C70; C73; P00; Z13
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| preservation of liberty (P14) | balance between state and society (P16) |
| imbalance between state and society (P37) | despotism (P26) |
| imbalance between state and society (P37) | anarchy (P40) |
| disruption of balance (D59) | social contracts become neither free nor fair (P37) |
| dynamics outside narrow corridor (C69) | emergence of neofeudal contracts (L14) |
| breakdown of social norms (Z13) | rise of despotic leviathan (P16) |
| power of the state overwhelms that of society (P16) | loss of liberty (K40) |