Why Nations Fail

by

Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson

Critical junctures are highly disruptive historical events that transform societies politically, socially, and economically. Classic examples are the Black Death and the Industrial Revolution. Acemoglu and Robinson argue that institutions often change radically in response to critical junctures, becoming far more inclusive or extractive depending on who controls them.

Critical Juncture Quotes in Why Nations Fail

The Why Nations Fail quotes below are all either spoken by Critical Juncture or refer to Critical Juncture. For each quote, you can also see the other terms and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 4 Quotes

The Black Death is a vivid example of a critical juncture, a major event or confluence of factors disrupting the existing economic or political balance in society. A critical juncture is a double-edged sword that can cause a sharp turn in the trajectory of a nation. On the one hand it can open the way for breaking the cycle of extractive institutions and enable more inclusive ones to emerge, as in England. Or it can intensify the emergence of extractive institutions, as was the case with the Second Serfdom in Eastern Europe.

Related Characters: Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson (speaker)
Explanation and Analysis:

The divergent paths of English, French, and Spanish societies in the seventeenth century illustrate the importance of the interplay of small institutional differences with critical junctures. During critical junctures, a major event or confluence of factors disrupts the existing balance of political or economic power in a nation. These can affect only a single country, such as the death of Chairman Mao Zedong in 1976, which at first created a critical juncture only for Communist China. Often, however, critical junctures affect a whole set of societies, in the way that, for example, colonization and then decolonization affected most of the globe.

Related Characters: Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson (speaker), Mao Zedong
Explanation and Analysis:

These differences are often small to start with, but they cumulate, creating a process of institutional drift. Just as two isolated populations of organisms will drift apart slowly in a process of genetic drift, because random genetic mutations cumulate, two otherwise similar societies will also slowly drift apart institutionally. Though, just like genetic drift, institutional drift has no predetermined path and does not even need to be cumulative; over centuries it can lead to perceptible, sometimes important differences. The differences created by institutional drift become especially consequential, because they influence how society reacts to changes in economic or political circumstances during critical junctures.

Related Characters: Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson (speaker)
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 8 Quotes

The Industrial Revolution created a critical juncture that affected almost every country. Some nations, such as England, not only allowed, but actively encouraged, commerce, industrialization, and entrepreneurship, and grew rapidly. Many, such as the Ottoman Empire, China, and other absolutist regimes, lagged behind as they blocked or at the very least did nothing to encourage the spread of industry. Political and economic institutions shaped the response to technological innovation, creating once again the familiar pattern of interaction between existing institutions and critical junctures leading to divergence in institutions and economic outcomes.

Related Characters: Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson (speaker)
Page Number: 215
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 14 Quotes

The changes in economic institutions in China were radical. China broke the mold, even if it did not transform its political institutions. As in Botswana and the U.S. South, the crucial changes came during a critical juncture—in the case of China, following Mao’s death. They were also contingent, in fact highly contingent, as there was nothing inevitable about the Gang of Four losing the power struggle; and if they had not, China would not have experienced the sustained economic growth it has seen in the last thirty years. But the devastation and human suffering that the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution caused generated sufficient demand for change that Deng Xiaoping and his allies were able to win the political fight.

Related Characters: Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson (speaker), Mao Zedong , Deng Xiaoping
Page Number: 426
Explanation and Analysis:
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Critical Juncture Term Timeline in Why Nations Fail

The timeline below shows where the term Critical Juncture appears in Why Nations Fail. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 4: Small Differences and Critical Junctures: The Weight of History
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...inclusive economic institutions, while the East had developed extractive ones. The Black Death shows how critical junctures —significant, disruptive historical events—can drive rapid change towards either inclusiveness or extractiveness, depending on the... (full context)
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...countries with even small institutional differences can move in opposite directions when they hit key critical junctures . Larger institutional differences, like Eastern Europe’s much stronger and more consolidated feudal system (compared... (full context)
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...Acemoglu and Robinson argue that, while existing institutions shape the way a society responds to critical junctures , these responses are never set in stone—they’re always historically contingent, dependent on which coalition... (full context)
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But critical junctures don’t always cause change—for instance, following their independence from colonial powers, the governments of many... (full context)
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...the Lay of the Land,” Acemoglu and Robinson apply their theory about institutional differences and critical junctures to explain how different parts of the world developed in divergent ways after the Industrial... (full context)
Chapter 5: “I’ve Seen the Future, and It Works”: Growth Under Extractive Institutions
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...evidence suggests that Diamond actually has it backwards. While the Neolithic Revolution relied on the critical juncture of the Long Summer, Acemoglu and Robinson argue, societies’ development depended on institutional differences—like the... (full context)
Chapter 6: Drifting Apart
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...as the Roman Republic gave way to the Roman Empire. Moreover, the Roman Empire created critical junctures that set up the rest of Europe for important institutional changes. For instance, its decline... (full context)
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...it just happened to have the right kind of institutions at the right time (or critical juncture ). (full context)
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In the section “Diverging Paths,” Acemoglu and Robinson explain how the critical juncture of the Western Roman Empire’s collapse enabled European institutions to develop in similar ways. The... (full context)
Chapter 8: Not on Our Turf: Barriers to Development
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During the critical juncture of the Industrial Revolution, many states encouraged innovation and commerce—but many others did not. Over... (full context)
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...England is another example of how small institutional differences can lead nations to diverge in critical junctures . (full context)
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...and Robinson summarize their argument in the section “Enduring Backwardness.” Different societies respond to the critical juncture of the Industrial Revolution in different ways. Some societies give their citizens incentives to innovate,... (full context)
Chapter 11: The Virtuous Circle
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...chapter with “Positive Feedback and Virtuous Circles.” They argue that societies create inclusive institutions at critical junctures , when elites fail to protect their power. But after creating them, inclusive institutions tend... (full context)
Chapter 14: Breaking the Mold
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At the critical juncture of its independence, Botswana harnessed its history of centralization and pluralism. A broad coalition of... (full context)
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...Apart from luck, it requires a broad political coalition to push for reform during a critical juncture . (full context)
Chapter 15: Understanding Prosperity and Poverty
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Institutions generally transform around disruptive historical events, or critical junctures . Different institutions respond to critical junctures in different ways—even, sometimes, by transforming themselves. And... (full context)