Conflict over the rules of the game

Conflict over scarce resources, income, and power translates into conflict over the rules of the game, economic institutions, which will determine the economic activities and who will benefit from them. When there is conflict the wishes of all parties cannot be simultaneously met. Some will be defeated and frustrated, while others will succeed in securing the outcomes they like. Who the winners of this conflict are has fundamental implications for a nation’s economic trajectory. If the groups standing against growth are the winners, they can successfully block economic growth, and the economy will stagnate (78).

That is from Acemoglu and Robinson's Why Nations Fail.