Includes bibliographical references (pages 611-641) and index

Introduction: Development of political institutions to the French Revolution -- What is political development? -- The dimensions of development -- Bureaucracy -- Prussia builds a state -- Corruption -- The birthplace of democracy -- Italy and the low-trust equilibrium -- Patronage and reform -- The United States invents clientelism -- The end of the spoils system -- Railroads, forests, and the American State Building -- Nation building -- Good government, bad government -- Nigeria -- Geography -- Silver, gold, and sugar -- Dogs that didn't bark -- The clean slate -- Storms in Africa -- Indirect rule -- Institutions, domestic or imported -- Lingua francas -- The strong Asian state -- The struggle for law in China -- The reinvention of the Chinese state -- Three regions

Why did democracy spread? -- From 1848 to the Arab Spring -- The middle class and democracy's future -- Political decay -- A state of courts and parties -- Congress and the repatrimonialization of American politics -- America the vetocracy -- Autonomy and subordination -- Political order and political decay

The second volume in a landmark chronicle of the modern state examines how societies develop strong, impersonal, and accountable political institutions, discussing such topics as the French Revolution, the Arab Spring, and contemporary American politics