The Failure of Leviathan: Power Struggles, Credible Commitments, and State-Building in Medieval China

• In Event: Historical Political Economy of China: Imperial Dynasties

Brief Overview

By constructing a time-series database of rulers and political elites, the paper points out that in the absence of credible commitments, the centralizing actions of rulers triggered power struggles, ultimately leading to state failure.

Author

• Duancheng Yang, East China University of Political Science and Law