Daron Acemoglu & James A. Robinson

A crucial big-picture framework that answers the question of how liberty flourishes in some states but falls to authoritarianism or anarchy in others

Liberty is hardly the “natural” order of things. In most places and at most times, human freedom has been quashed. States have been either too weak to protect individuals or too strong for people to prevent despotism. The corridor to liberty is narrow and stays open only via a fundamental and incessant struggle between state and society.

Today we are in the midst of a time of wrenching destabilization. The danger on the horizon is not just the loss of our political freedom—but also the disintegration of the prosperity and safety that critically depend on liberty. Drawing a wealth of evidence from current affairs and disparate threads of world history, The Narrow Corridor both underscores the fragile nature of liberty and offers a new framework on how to achieve it.