Book contents
- Robustness and Fragility of Political Orders
- Robustness and Fragility of Political Orders
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Contributors
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Robustness and Fragility of Political Orders
- 3 End of Democracy or Recurrent Conflict: Minimalist Democracy, Legitimacy Crisis, and Political Equality
- 4 Politics and the Administrative State
- 5 Roots in Common: The Fragility–Robustness of Democratic and Ecological Regimes
- 6 The End of Communist Rule in Europe: A Comparative Perspective on the Fragility and Robustness of Regimes
- 7 Democracy’s Fragility and the European Political Order
- 8 The American Fragility–Robustness Nexus
- 9 The Perils of Choice: Structure and Agency in EU Crisis Management
- 10 Conclusions
- Index
2 - Robustness and Fragility of Political Orders
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 25 November 2022
- Robustness and Fragility of Political Orders
- Robustness and Fragility of Political Orders
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Contributors
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Robustness and Fragility of Political Orders
- 3 End of Democracy or Recurrent Conflict: Minimalist Democracy, Legitimacy Crisis, and Political Equality
- 4 Politics and the Administrative State
- 5 Roots in Common: The Fragility–Robustness of Democratic and Ecological Regimes
- 6 The End of Communist Rule in Europe: A Comparative Perspective on the Fragility and Robustness of Regimes
- 7 Democracy’s Fragility and the European Political Order
- 8 The American Fragility–Robustness Nexus
- 9 The Perils of Choice: Structure and Agency in EU Crisis Management
- 10 Conclusions
- Index
Summary
I make two related claims: (1) assessments of stability made by political actors and analysts are largely hit or miss; and (2) that leader responses to fear of fragility or confidence in robustness are unpredictable in their consequences. Leader assessments are often made with respect to historical lessons derived from dramatic past events that appear relevant to the present. These lessons may or may not be based on good history and may or may not be relevant to the case at hand. Leaders and elites who believe their orders to be robust can help make their beliefs self-fulfilling. However, overconfidence can help make these orders fragile. I argue that leader and elite assessments of robustness and fragility are influenced by cognitive biases and also often highly motivated. Leaders and their advisors use information selectively and can confirm tautologically the lessons they apply.
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- Information
- Robustness and Fragility of Political OrdersLeader Assessments, Responses, and Consequences, pp. 25 - 53Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2022