?The Narrow Corridor: States, Societies, and the Fate of liberty

By Daron Acemoglu

ABOUT THE NARROW CORRIDOR

“Why is it so difficult to develop and sustain liberal democracy? The best recent work on this subject comes from a remarkable pair of scholars, Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson. In their latest book, The Narrow Corridor, they have answered this question with great insight.” -Fareed Zakaria, The Washington Post

From the authors of the international bestseller Why Nations Fail, 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.

In Why Nations Fail, Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson argued that countries rise and fall based not on culture, geography, or chance, but on the power of their institutions. In their new book, they build a new theory about liberty and how to achieve it, drawing a wealth of evidence from both current affairs and disparate threads of world history.  

Liberty is hardly the “natural” order of things. In most places and at most times, the strong have dominated the weak and human freedom has been quashed by force or by customs and norms. Either states have been too weak to protect individuals from these threats, or states have been too strong for people to protect themselves from despotism. Liberty emerges only when a delicate and precarious balance is struck between state and society.

There is a Western myth that political liberty is a durable construct, arrived at by a process of “enlightenment.” This static view is a fantasy, the authors argue. In reality, the corridor to liberty is narrow and stays open only via a fundamental and incessant struggle between state and society: The authors look to the American Civil Rights Movement, Europe’s early and recent history, the Zapotec civilization circa 500 BCE, and Lagos’s efforts to uproot corruption and institute government accountability to illustrate what it takes to get and stay in the corridor. But they also examine Chinese imperial history, colonialism in the Pacific, India’s caste system, Saudi Arabia’s suffocating cage of norms, and the “Paper Leviathan” of many Latin American and African nations to show how countries can drift away from it, and explain the feedback loops that make liberty harder to achieve.

Today we are in the midst of a time of wrenching destabilization. We need liberty more than ever, and yet the corridor to liberty is becoming narrower and more treacherous. The danger on the horizon is not “just” the loss of our political freedom, however grim that is in itself; it is also the disintegration of the prosperity and safety that critically depend on liberty. The opposite of the corridor of liberty is the road to ruin.

“為什麽發展和維持自由民主如此困難？ 最近關於這個主題的最佳著作來自一對傑出的學者，Daron Acemoglu 和 James A. Robinson。 在他們的最新著作《狹窄的走廊》中，他們以深刻的見解回答了這個問題。” -Fareed Zakaria，華盛頓郵報

出自國際暢銷書《國家為何失敗》的作者之手，這是一個至關重要的新大局框架，它回答了自由如何在某些國家蓬勃發展，但在其他國家卻淪為專製主義或無政府狀態的問題——並解釋了自由如何在麵臨新威脅的情況下繼續蓬勃發展。

在《為什麽國家會失敗》一書中，Daron Acemoglu 和 James A. Robinson 認為，國家的興衰不是基於文化、地理或機會，而是取決於其製度的力量。 在他們的新書中，他們建立了一個關於自由以及如何實現自由的新理論，從時事和世界曆史的不同線索中汲取了大量證據。

自由很難說是事物的“自然”秩序。 在大多數地方和大多數時間，強者支配弱者，人類自由被武力或習俗和規範所壓製。 要麽國家太弱無法保護個人免受這些威脅，要麽國家太強大以至於人們無法保護自己免受專製。 隻有在國家與社會之間達成微妙而不穩定的平衡時，自由才會出現。

有一個西方神話認為，政治自由是一種持久的建構，是通過“啟蒙”過程獲得的。 作者認為，這種靜態觀點是一種幻想。 實際上，通往自由的走廊是狹窄的，隻有通過國家與社會之間根本的、持續的鬥爭才能保持暢通：作者著眼於美國民權運動、歐洲的早期和近代曆史、大約公元前 500 年的薩巴特克文明以及拉各斯的努力 根除腐敗並建立政府問責製，以說明獲得和留在走廊所需的條件。 但他們也研究了中國的帝國曆史、太平洋地區的殖民主義、印度的種姓製度、沙特阿拉伯令人窒息的規範牢籠，以及許多拉丁美洲和非洲國家的“紙利維坦”，以展示各國如何遠離它，並解釋 使自由更難實現的反饋回路。

今天，我們正處於動蕩不安的時期。 我們比以往任何時候都更需要自由，但通向自由的走廊正變得越來越狹窄和危險。 地平線上的危險不僅“隻是”失去我們的政治自由，無論其本身多麽嚴峻； 嚴重依賴自由的還有繁榮和安全的瓦解。 自由走廊的對麵是毀滅之路。

PRAISE

One of the Financial Times‘ Best Books of 2019
One of Kirkus Reviews’ Best Books of 2019
Shortlisted for the Lionel Gelber Prize

“Why is it so difficult to develop and sustain liberal democracy? The best recent work on this subject comes from a remarkable pair of scholars, Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson. In their latest book, The Narrow Corridor, they have answered this question with great insight.” –Fareed Zakaria, The Washington Post

“What explains the rise and fall of democracy and dictatorship? . . . [Acemoglu and Robinson] offer a provocative framework for analyzing our current moment of democratic crisis. . . . A powerful starting point for understanding the many perils facing aspirations for democracy and liberty today. . . helpfully recalibrates our American tendency to collapse debates over freedom into a binary clash between the narrow liberty of ‘free markets’ on the one hand, and the economic and political freedoms provided by social-democratic ‘big government’ on the other.” —The Washington Post

“Crucially and rightly, the book does not see freedom as merely the absence of state oppression . . . This book is more original and exciting than its predecessor. It has gone beyond the focus on institutions to one on how a state really works.” —Martin Wolf, Financial Times

“Fantastic.” —Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft

“A work of staggering ambition—aiming to explain why liberty has or has not existed at every moment in time in every geography in the world… It is chock full of delightful detours and brilliant nuggets… Smart and timely.” —Newsweek

“A well-written and argued treatise. . . . indispensable reading.” —Library Journal (starred review)

“Provocative and intuitively correct. An endlessly rewarding book.” —Kirkus (starred review)
 
“The Narrow Corridor takes us on a fascinating journey, across continents and through human history, to discover the critical ingredient of liberty. In these times, there can be no more important search—nor any more important book.” —George Akerlof, Nobel laureate in economics, 2001
 
“Liberty does not come easily. Many populations suffer from ineffective governments and are stuck in a cage of norms and traditions. Others are subdued by a despotic Leviathan. In this highly original and gratifying fresco, Daron Acemoglu and Jim Robinson take us on a journey through civilizations across time and space. A remarkable achievement that only they could pull off and that seems destined to repeat the stellar performance of Why Nations Fail.” —Jean Tirole, Toulouse School of Economics, Nobel laureate in economics, 2014
 
“With gripping examples of civilizations that thrived or failed, Acemoglu and Robinson provide an exhilarating analysis of the critical balance needed between state and society. The Narrow Corridor is destined to be the landmark book that maps the future of freedom for any serious policymaker, scholar, or citizen.” —Erik Brynjolfsson, coauthor of The Second Machine Age
 
“One of the biggest paradoxes of political history is the trend, over the last 10,000 years, away from small tribes and toward the development of the strong centralized states that allow societies of millions to function. But—how can a powerful state be reconciled with liberty for its citizens? This great book provides an answer to this fundamental dilemma. You will find it as enjoyable as it is thought-provoking.” —Jared Diamond, professor of geography at UCLA and Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Guns, Germs, and Steel
 
“How should we view the current challenges facing our democracies? This brilliant, timely book offers a simple, powerful framework for assessing alternative forms of social governance. The analysis is a reminder that it takes vigilance to maintain a proper balance between the state and society—to stay in the ‘narrow corridor’—and avoid falling into either statelessness or dictatorship.” —Bengt Holmstrom, Nobel laureate in economics, 2016
 
“Two of the world’s best social scientists have written a magisterial book of immense insight and learning, a true tour de force. From its rich historical study of the delicate balance between state and society it draws a chilling conclusion every thinking person should be aware of: Liberty is as rare as it is fragile, wedged uneasily between tyranny and anarchy.” —Joel Mokyr, author of A Culture of Growth
 
“Another outstanding, insightful book by Acemoglu and Robinson on the importance and difficulty of getting and maintaining a successful democratic state. Packed with examples and analysis, it is a pleasure to read.” —Peter Diamond, Nobel Laureate in Economics, 2010
 

Praise for Why Nations Fail
 
“Bracing, garrulous, wildly ambitious and ultimately hopeful. It may, in fact, be a bit of a masterpiece.” —The Washington Post

“Why Nations Fail is a splendid piece of scholarship and a showcase of economic rigor.” —The Wall Street Journal

“A brilliant book.” —Bloomberg
 
“This is an intellectually rich book that develops an important thesis with verve. It should be widely read.” —Financial Times

“Why Nations Fail is a truly awesome book.” —Steven Levitt, coauthor of Freakonomics

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