An innovator in contemporary thought on economic and political development looks here at decline rather than growth. Albert O. Hirschman makes a basic distinction between alternative ways of reacting to deterioration in business firms and, in general, to dissatisfaction with organizations: one-exit-is for the member to quit the organization or for the customer to switch to the competing product, and the other-voice-is for members or customers to agitate and exert influence for change "from within." The efficiency of the competitive mechanism, with its total reliance on exit, is questioned for certain important situations. As exit often undercuts voice while being unable to counteract decline, loyalty is seen in the function of retarding exit and of permitting voice to play its proper role. The interplay of the three concepts turns out to illuminate a wide range of economic, social, and political phenomena. As the author states in the preface, "having found my own unifying way of looking at issues as diverse as competition and the two-party system, divorce and the American character, black power and the failure of 'unhappy' top officials to resign over Vietnam, I decided to let myself go a little."

当代经济和政治发展思想的革新者在这里着眼于衰退而非增长。阿尔伯特O。Hirschman对应对商业公司恶化和总体上对组织不满的替代方式进行了基本区分：一种退出方式是会员退出组织或客户转向竞争产品，另一个声音是会员或客户“从内部”鼓动并施加影响。完全依赖退出的竞争机制的效率在某些重要情况下受到质疑。由于退出往往削弱了话语权，同时又无法抵消衰落，忠诚被视为阻碍退出和允许话语权发挥其应有作用的功能。这三个概念的相互作用解释了广泛的经济、社会和政治现象。正如作者在序言中所说，“在找到了我自己的统一方式来看待各种各样的问题，如竞争和两党制、离婚和美国性格、黑人权力以及“不快乐”的高官在越南问题上辞职的失败，我决定让自己走一点。”