The Origins of Political Order: From Prehuman Times to the French Revolution (Paperback)

from jcook818

An extensive and interdisciplinary look at the foundations of political order and organization, starting with biological origins and continuing with a systematic look at the origins of the state, rule of law and accountability. Fukuyama's main contributions include the formation/refinement of sev...

from vguy

Ambitious, scholarly, wide-ranging, sprawling, bordering on the incoherent. Like "End of History" there's a hint of a grand thesis behind it all, but not quite clear what it is, and even less whether he has proved it. And likewise, the title seems off-target: This book is not about 'origins' (how...

from jmoncton

This was a well-researched book that studies the development of society and government from prehistorical times (with even some discussion of primate organization) all the way through to the French revolution. It's so interesting to see how complicated the process of developing a nation can be. I...

from RobertP

An entertaining political scientists' view of political development up to immediately before the French and American Revolutions. Hard to encapsulate in a few words. Beware of patrimonial systems, in which power is inherited. (Canadians note this before you vote for Trudeau Jr.) Beware of institu...

from AnnieMod

I will start with the easy part: I liked the book and I will be reading volume 2 as soon as it is published. Now to the hard part - how to review a book like this one. With this book Fukuyama starts a two-volume series about the Political Order and its development. The first volume is almost pure...