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is a group of cronies in a dictatorship or a majority in
a democracy. The concept of gridlocked government is
common in an analysis of democracy precisely because
there is no dictator, but rather a political process that
requires the support of many to pass any policy. The
same is true of every government that has been called
a dictatorship: no government can operate without a
group of cronies to support the dictator’s position and
power. Government decisions are the result of a collective
decision-making process that always requires the
support of many people; they are not made by a singular
entity, even in a dictatorship.
The government is not an omniscient, benevolent
dictator. Understanding the way the government works
requires understanding the information limitations government
decision-makers face, the incentive structure
that may push them to act against the public interest,
and the collective process by which a large group makes
government decisions instead of a dictator unilaterally
imposing them. Analyzing the claim that various political
and economic systems are all variants of liberalism and
cronyism requires setting aside the myth of the omniscient,
benevolent dictator. The next several chapters
examine various political and economic systems to see
how they actually work in practice rather than how they
might ideally work in theory.
LAYING A FOUNDATION 13