The Logic of Political Survival

The Logic of Political Survival

First edition cover
Author	Bruce Bueno de Mesquita, Alastair Smith, Randolph M. Siverson, James D. Morrow
Country	United States
Language	English
Genre	Political Science
Published	2003
Publisher	MIT Press
ISBN	9780262025461

The Logic of Political Survival is a 2003 non-fiction book co-written by Bruce Bueno de Mesquita, Alastair Smith, Randolph M. Siverson, and James D. Morrow, published by MIT Press. It formally introduces and develops the selectorate theory of politics.

Paul Warwick of Simon Fraser University wrote that the book is "an extraordinary attempt to answer some very big questions" and "much more than its title suggests" due to its incorporation of other elements related to war, economics, and nation-building.^[1] Harvey Starr of the University of South Carolina wrote that due to the copious amounts of material analyzed and presented regarding comparative politics and international relations, it is "Not a quick or easy read".^[2] Stephen Knack of the World Bank described it as an "ambitious work", with the concepts of the selectorate and "winning coalition" being the work's "novel contribution".^[3]