The Narrow Corridor: States: Societies and the Fate of Liberty

“A crucial new big-picture framework that answers the question of how liberty flourishes in some states but falls to authoritarianism or anarchy in others–and explains how it can continue to thrive despite new threats”–

The most fundamental definition of liberty is that people are free from violence, intimidation, and other demeaning acts. Acemoglu and Robinson examine how and why human societies have achieved liberty– or failed to achieve it. Believing that liberty is a basic aspiration of all human beings, they examine why it has been rare in history– and is rare today. — adapted from foreword