Books in the Elements in Political Economy series

When do reforms provoke rather than prevent rebellion? This short work, written for political scientists, economists, historians, and sociologists, develops a theory of reform and rebellion. It explores that theory in the context of nineteenth-century Russia, the late Ottoman Empire, ancient Rome, the French Revolution, and contemporary Latin America.

Explores the colliding trends of internal migration and nativism in developing countries. Looks at how subnational migration is associated with nativist politics, the effects of internal migration surges on public policy and how political decentralization strengthens subnational politicians' incentives to define and cater to nativists.

When authority is contested or ambiguous, mass punishment for transgressions can emerge that is public, brutal, and requires broad participation. Using original cross-national and survey data, we show lynching is a persistent problem in many countries over the last four decades.

This Element analyses the value of effective state institutions before introducing democracy. To do so, it draws on an extensive global sample of about 180 countries, measured across 1789-2019 and leverage panel regressions, preparametric matching, and sequence analysis to test a number of observable implications.

State capacity - the government's ability to accomplish its intended policy goals - plays an important role in market-oriented economic development today. Yet state capacity improvements are often difficult to achieve. This Element analyzes the historical origins of state capacity. It evaluates long-run state development in Western Europe - the birthplace of both the modern state and modern economic growth - with a focus on three key inflection points: the rise of the city-state, the nation-state, and the welfare state. This Element develops a conceptual framework regarding the basic political conditions that enable the state to take effective policy actions. This framework highlights the government's challenge to exert proper authority over both its citizenry and itself. It concludes by analyzing the European state development process relative to other world regions. This analysis characterizes the basic historical features that helped make Western Europe different. By taking a long-run approach, it provides a new perspective on the deep-rooted relationship between state capacity and economic development.