The Origins of Political Order is not a light book but it is highly readable. Fukuyama surveys political evolution across the planet from our earliest days. The book is separated into 5 parts containing the dynamics of pre state society, early statehood in particular what would be considered our first civilizations, the rule of law, accountable government and the last section is an attempt to weave the previous four parts together to show how feedback loops can arise. I will try to give a quick overview.
The author starts by posing the question of how does one get to the stage of a final state from pre-state society. The author introduces the theories of early man presented by Locke, Rousseau and Hegel. Man in a state of nature is then revisited empirically and shown to be quite different from these philosophical speculations. Early man is shown to be social (in and desiring recognition, seeking relative status) and reciprocating based on kin relations. The author maintains that political goals do not residualize to economic goals. This in a certain sense can be considered to originate from the game theory differences of relative status and economic cooperation. The author continues on from pre-state society to analyze China, India, early Islamic, Mamluk, Ottoman and Christian society. Each one is fascinating and one gets a sense of how different power structures evolved based on the distribution of power and the organization of beauracracy. In particular the author displays how paternalism within the state is a seed of political decay and that there is a constant struggle between rent seeking activity internally counterbalanced by the pressure from those for whom rent was being taken. In particular this issue is the source of political tension in a zero sum world. The author then takes on the idea of rule of law. The rule of law is introduced by way of showing the difficulty in establishing it. There is a vague parallel to the chicken and the egg, in that - for there to be rule of law there must be a state to provide that, but for there to be a state people must submit to the rule of law. Of course the auther goes through the history of the rule of law to describe how it can and did evolve. Our religious doctorines provide a template for universal laws for man, which helped form a basis for legal contract. The history of England's common law is reviewed. The rule of law in China is described, which historically was much more top down absolutist, but checked by the influence of the trained beauracracy. The author then gets to political accountability and how it evolved differently. Accountable government is described from the view of the balance of power between the parties which had it. When patrimonialism ruled in areas with slave labour, political accountability evolved very differently to where all were free and there were evolving middle class. Political accountability can be considered one of the final stages to a dynamic political order where stability is maintained through the participation of society in constructing the rule of law and government that they willingly submit to be governed by.
The author concludes by tying it together. He notes that political progress and decay are both outcomes neither is inevitable and progress and decay evolve out of whether political order allows for progress or hinders it (when the economic means to evolve are there). He ties together how many foundations of political order are mutually reinforcing and how some are pre-requisits for stable society. There can be path depencies but history does not need to be re-lived to create a new modern state where there currently is none. At the same time given the time it takes to create an environment of trust and a competitive landscape that is meritocratic, to get to a modern state is extremely nuanced, cultural and difficult. There are many valuable insights one can glean from the Origins of Political Order and despite its length and depth, it is interesting the entire way through. The reader is left wanting to read the second volume on Political Order after the French Revolution.
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Five Stars
Clear, deep and solid investigation & arguments in a broad historical perspective.
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RrBewertet in Mexiko am 23. Juni 2023
A must read author to endersatnd our world to day and it's future
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Simon Knows NothingBewertet in Großbritannien am 21. April 2022
Masterpiece and a page turner as well
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