I enjoy listening to Russ Roberts podcasts on my phone. I heard a particularly good one, an interview with Bruce Bueno de Mesquita. He has a unifying theory of political power, that encompasses democracy and autocracy. The wonderful thing about his theory is that it does not require dictators like Robert Mugabe and Kim Jong Il to behave irrationally. In fact their behaviour, including the complete impoverishment of their population by maintaining a black market in their destroyed currency.
Prof. Bueno de Medquita clearly understands the Nomenklatura system, and I fear, expects his listeners to as well. Apparently it is the most perfect system for preserving the power of the person at the top of the pyramid, and for extending power down the chain of command.
The podcast on Econblog.
Selectorate Theory on Wikipedia - just a general idea, do not judge it from this.
