Canonical · Governance & Power · Book

Leviathan & the Social Contract

Thomas Hobbes · 1651

"Hobbes argued that without a sovereign to enforce agreement, life is 'solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short' — so rational individuals trade some freedom for security, authorizing a common power that makes promises credible."

The idea

Hobbes wrote Leviathan during the English Civil War and asked: why would free people ever agree to be ruled? Because the alternative — everyone enforcing their own contract — is war.

Why it works

The takeaway — recall it first

The Dictator's Handbook & Selectorate Theory

"Selectorate theory says leaders survive by rewarding the small coalition that actually keeps them in power, not the broader population — so policy that looks 'irrational' often makes perfect sense as coalition maintenance."

Bruce Bueno de Mesquita & Alastair Smith · BookContinue→