Comparing the Strength of Nations

The political capacity of advanced societies is measured. We show that politically capable governments can mobilize vast resources from the society under the stress of war, but totalitarian, democratic and authoritarian regimes do not determine the level of performance. The absolute political capacity of rich nations is higher than that of poorer ones, but surprisingly, poor nations can increase their political capacity more effectively under stress. Finally, Power, constructed by combining total resources with the political capacity of governments, is used to postdict accurately the outcome of major wars since 1900.