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

With a magisterial sweep through history, Acemoglu and Robinson tell the story of the struggle to establish a narrow corridor between despotism and anarchy, where liberty can thrive. For liberty to emerge and flourish, both state and society must be strong. They emphasize that preserving liberty is an ongoing struggle that never finishes. Today, it is struggling even in the mature democracies, where the response to new challenges, they warn, is closer to Weimar’s Germany than to postwar Sweden’s. Liberty is clearly at peril. In a compelling and important book, they explain why.