institutions, even though they have their own feedback loop,
the virtuous circle, can also reverse course and become
gradually more extractive because of challenges during
critical junctures—and whether this happens is, again,
contingent. The Venetian Republic, as we will see in
chapter 6, made major strides toward inclusive political and
economic institutions in the medieval period. But while such
institutions became gradually stronger in England after the
Glorious Revolution of 1688, in Venice they ultimately
transformed themselves into extractive institutions under
the control of a narrow elite that monopolized both
economi