1/ Francis Fukuyama's Origins of Political Order is one of the most insightful books on understanding what's going on today in geopolitics and political systems that I've read.
Here's a short summary 🧵
Here's a short summary 🧵
2/ At the core of his thinking is the notion of an institution as a "stable, valued, recurring patterns of behavior that persist beyond the tenure of individual leaders."
3/ Different Countries today face one of 3 challenges
1. No functioning institutions - E.g. Post-Qaddafi Libya
2. Decaying institutions - E.g. United States
3. Social change outstripping existing institutions - E.g. Turkey and Brazil
1. No functioning institutions - E.g. Post-Qaddafi Libya
2. Decaying institutions - E.g. United States
3. Social change outstripping existing institutions - E.g. Turkey and Brazil
4/ But how did institutions come to exist?
The basis is in evolutionary biology: specifically kin selection and reciprocal altruism.
The first human groups were these sort of family-based bands.
The basis is in evolutionary biology: specifically kin selection and reciprocal altruism.
The first human groups were these sort of family-based bands.
5/ But humans are also norm-following creatures. They follow norms of behavior of others around them.
Since an institution is nothing more than a norm that persists over time, human beings have a natural tendency to institutionalize their norms and behavior.
Since an institution is nothing more than a norm that persists over time, human beings have a natural tendency to institutionalize their norms and behavior.
6/ The transition from bands to tribal-level societies is rooted in kinship but required the emergence of religion.
You wanted to be faithful to your ancestors so rules that were said to honor them but promoted effective cooperation won out.
You wanted to be faithful to your ancestors so rules that were said to honor them but promoted effective cooperation won out.
7/ The next transition was from tribal societies to state-level societies where the state possesses a monopoly on coercion.
“War made the state and the state made war.”
This required shifting political organization away from family and friends to impersonal institutions.
“War made the state and the state made war.”
This required shifting political organization away from family and friends to impersonal institutions.
8/ Modern states have to move beyond friends and family to recruit officials.
In China, this happened through the emergence of civil service examinations.
The Arabs and Ottomans used slave-soldiers which were non-Muslim boys with no existing allegiances (e.g. Janissaries)
In China, this happened through the emergence of civil service examinations.
The Arabs and Ottomans used slave-soldiers which were non-Muslim boys with no existing allegiances (e.g. Janissaries)
9/ In Europe, the Catholic church changed the rules of inheritance to make it much more difficult for kin groups to pass resources down to their extended families which established it as a separate institution.
10/ The Rule of Law can be understood as the rules that are banding on even the most politically powerful individuals and has its basis in religion across cultures
11/ The rule of law became most deeply institutionalized in Western Europe due to the role of the Roman Catholic Church.
The Church emerged as a political actor that could affect the fortune of Kings and Emperors
The Church emerged as a political actor that could affect the fortune of Kings and Emperors
12/ Only in Western Europe was the first of the three major institutions to emerge.
China never developed a transcendental religion and perhaps for this reason, it never developed a true rule of law.
The Chinese state thus emerged without any constraint on political power.
China never developed a transcendental religion and perhaps for this reason, it never developed a true rule of law.
The Chinese state thus emerged without any constraint on political power.
13/ The final institution to emerge was democratic accountability which grew out of the feudal institution of estates, the elites on which the king relied to raise taxes and armies.
14/ French and Spanish monarchs largely succeeded in reducing the power of elites and being more authoritarian.
In contrast, the elites in Poland and Hungary won out leading to a very weak central authority.
As a result, they were conquered by stronger neighbors.
In contrast, the elites in Poland and Hungary won out leading to a very weak central authority.
As a result, they were conquered by stronger neighbors.
15/ England was the one place where there was a relatively even balance between the power of the monarch and the Estates.
16/ The next big development was the founding of the United States.
The American experiment was unique in that it fully acknowledged individual rights and equality.
“All men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights.”
The American experiment was unique in that it fully acknowledged individual rights and equality.
“All men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights.”
17/ The basic political order established first in England by the Glorious Revolution then the American Revolution would prove remarkably durable
Changes, though extremely important, were changes of degree more than kind.
Changes, though extremely important, were changes of degree more than kind.
18/ Similarly, the institutions established in China, India, and The Middle East centuries ago are still the basis on which the nation-states in that area operate today.
Many of our political debates are grounded in these histories and the cultures they established.
Many of our political debates are grounded in these histories and the cultures they established.
