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Rentier StateA rentier (prounounced rn'tyā) is an individual who depends on income derived from rents. The modern Rentier State derives all or a substantial portion of its revenue from natural resources (e.g., petroleum) or from selling political influence. This contrasts with non-rentier states that garner their revenues from the surplus production of the state's population. Rentier States externally generate rents by manipulating the global political and economic environment. Such manipulation includes monopolies, trading restrictions, and soliciting subsidies or aid in exchange for political influence. The economic and political developments of such states appears to be retarded. In non-rentier states, GDP per capita is highly predictive of most statistics of development, such as literacy, but appears almost unrelated in rentier states. Political scientist Fareed Zakaria has posited that such states fail to develop politically because externally generated "rents" provide government revenues instead of taxes. While taxpaying citizens usually place pressure on the government to become responsive to their needs, a government in a rentier state experiences no such pressure. Instead, the government essentially 'bribes' the citizenry with extensive social welfare programs. Therefore, the requisites for the development of a middle-class, such as property rights and just and equitable law are never able to form.
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