From the Book - First edition.
Development of political institutions to the French Revolution
The State. What is political development? ; The dimensions of development ; Bureaucracy ; Prussia builds a state ; Corruption ; The birthplace of democracy ; Italy and the low-trust equilibrium ; Patronage and reform ; The United States invents clientelism ; The end of the spoils system ; Railroads, forests, and American state building ; Nation building ; Good government, bad government
Foreign institutions. Nigeria ; Geography ; Silver, gold, and sugar ; Dogs that didn't bark ; The clean slate ; Storms in Africa ; Indirect rule ; institutions, domestic or imported ; Lingua francas ; The strong Asian state ; The struggle for law in China ; The reinvention of the Chinese state ; three regions
Democracy. Why did democracy spread? ; The long road to democracy ; From 1848 to the Arab Spring ; The middle class and democracy's future
Political decay. Political decay ; A state of courts and parties ; Congress and the repatrimonialization of American politics ; America the vetocracy ; Autonomy and subordination ; Political order and political decay.