“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 today’s developing
countries—with often disastrous consequences for the rest of the world.
Francis Fukuyama, author of the bestselling The
End of History and the Last Man and one of our most important political
thinkers, provides a sweeping account of how today’s basic political
institutions developed. The first of a major two-volume work, The Origins of
Political Order begins 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 of the 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 knowledge—history,
evolutionary biology, archaeology, and economics—Fukuyama 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.”
