In an absolutist regime, some elites can wield power to set
up economic institutions they prefer. Would they be
interested in changing political institutions to make them
more pluralistic? In general not, since this would only dilute
their political power, making it more difficult, maybe
impossible, for them to structure economic institutions to
further their own interests. Here again we see a ready
source of conflict. The people who suffer from the extractive
economic institutions cannot hope for absolutist rulers to
voluntarily change political institutions and redistribute
power in society. The only way to change these political
institutions is to force the elite to create more pluralistic
institutions.
In the same way that there is no reason why political
institutions should automatically become pluralistic, there is
no natural tendency toward political centralization. There
would certainly be incentives to create more centralized
state institutions in any society, particularly in those with no
such centralization whatsoever. For example, in Somalia, if
one clan created a centralized state capable of imposing
order on the country, this could lead to economic benefits
and make this clan richer. What stops this? The main
barrier to political centralization is again a form of fear from
change: any clan, group, or politician attempting to
centralize power in the state will also be centralizing power
in their own hands, and this is likely to meet the ire of other
clans, groups, and individuals, who would be the political
losers of this process. Lack of political centralization
means not only lack of law and order in much of a territory
but also there being many actors with sufficient powers to
block or disrupt things, and the fear of their opposition and
violent reaction will often deter many would-be centralizers.
Political centralization is likely only when one group of
people is sufficiently more powerful than others to build a
state. In Somalia, power is evenly balanced, and no one
clan can impose its will on any other. Therefore, the lack of
political centralization persists.
T HE L ONG A GONY OF THE C ONGO
There are few better, or more depre