The Origins Of Political Order: From Prehuman Times To The French Revolution

The Origins Of Political Order: From Prehuman Times To The French Revolution

Product Description Virtually all human societies were once organized tribally, yet over time most developed new political institutions which included a central state that could keep the peace and uniform laws that applied to all citizens. Some went on to create governments that were accountable to their constituents. We take these institutions for granted, but they are absent or are unable to perform in many of todays developing countrieswith often disastrous consequences for the rest of the world.Francis Fukuyama, author of the bestselling The End of History and the Last Manand one of our mostimportant political thinkers,provides a sweeping account of how todays basic political institutions developed. The first of a major two-volume work, The Originsof Political Orderbegins with politics among our primate ancestors and follows the story through the emergence of tribal societies, the growth of the first modern state in China, the beginning ofthe rule of law in India and the Middle East, and the development of political accountability in Europe up until the eve of the French Revolution.Drawing on a vast body of knowledgehistory, evolutionary biology, archaeology, and economicsFukuyama has produced a brilliant, provocative work that offers fresh insights on the origins of democratic societies and raises essential questions about the nature of politics and its discontents. From Publishers Weekly Starred Review. The evolving tension between private and public animates this magisterial history of the state. In his hominids-to-guillotines chronicle of humanitys attempts to build strong, accountable governments that adhere to the rule of law, international relations scholar Fukuyama (The End of History) advances two themes: the effort to create an impersonal state free from family and tribal allegiances, and the struggleoften violentagainst wealthy elites who capture the state and block critical reforms. Fukuyamas multifaceted comparative approach grounds politics and government in the demands of biology, geography, war, and economics, and pays appropriately lavish attention to China (he styles the Qin Dynasty of 221 B.C.E. the worlds first modern state), India, and the Islamic countries. A neo-Hegelian, hes especially trenchant on the importance of ideologyespecially religious beliefsas an autonomous instigator of social and political change. (He cogently ascribes Europes distinctively individualistic culture to the medieval Catholic Churchs assault on kinship.) Fukuyama writes a crystalline prose that balances engaging erudition with incisive analysis. As germane to the turmoil in Afghanistan as it is to todays congressional battles, this is that rare work of history with up-to-the-minute relevance. (Apr.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved. From Booklist Political theorist Fukuyama presents nothing less than a unified theory of state formation, a comparative study of how tribally organized societies in various parts of the world and various moments in history have transformed into societies with political systems and institutions and, in some cases, political accountability. Drawing upon a diverse range of sourcessociobiology and anthropology as well as macroeconomics and legal historyand paying particular attention to political development in Asia, Fukuyama describes a somewhat evolutionary mechanism wherein political systems develop in response to certain societal conditions and become institutionalized because of, among other things, their ability to adapt. Very much a continuation of his former teacher Samuel Huntingtons interest in political decay, this wide-ranging and frequently provocative work also carries the mantel of the great nineteenth-century sociologists, who addressed many of the same questions. Though Fukuyama hints at his theorys relevance to present-day political challenges, readers seeking commentary on anything more recent than the French