The Origins of Political Order Buchzusammenfassung - das Wichtigste aus The Origins of Political Order

Zusammenfassung von The Origins of Political Order

Name: The Origins of Political Order
Rating: 4.4 (44 reviews)
Author: Francis Fukuyama

Francis Fukuyama

From Prehuman Times to the French Revolution

4.4 (44 Bewertungen)

18 Min.

Kurz zusammengefasst

'The Origins of Political Order' by Francis Fukuyama offers a comprehensive analysis of political developments worldwide. It covers the emergence of states and institutions, and explains the role of religion and culture in shaping political order.

Themen

Allgemeinwissen

Inhaltsübersicht

The Origins of Political Order
in 10 Kernaussagen verstehen

Audio & Text in der Blinkist App

Kernaussage 1 von 10

What’s in it for me? Learn the history of modern politics.

The news is clogged with stories of political turmoil around the world. Every day, we hear stories of failed states, war and corruption. Why are some nations and governments so fundamentally different from others? What factors caused these differing political systems to form?

To answer these questions, we must look to history, and gain an intimate understanding by comparing the histories of many regions, and not just one particular nation-state. Francis Fukuyama does exactly this in The Origins of Political Order. In these blinks, you’ll learn how our biological predisposition to favor our families has drastically affected the trajectory of political development, and how this has played out in different regions. You’ll learn what societal conditions allowed some states to flourish and caused others to fail. You’ll also learn

how military slaves helped Middle Eastern states maintain power;
why China has remained a fairly cohesive state for over 2,000 years;
why France and Spain could finance their wars by avoiding their creditors;
how parliamentary checks on power caused the English state to grow and the Hungarian state to fall;
why the Mongols could build one of the largest empires in history, but not maintain it; and
why religion hindered state-building in India but advanced it in Western Europe.

Humans are social creatures who naturally seek to be part of a group.

How can we make sense of our evolution? Our progression from hunter-gatherers to life in today’s complex, organized societies has been so vast it seems to defy comprehension.

We must first understand that we’re social creatures. We thrive by cooperating with our family and others around us.

Our natural sociability derives from our kin selection, whereby we help others according to the percentage of genes we share with them. People help their siblings more than their cousins, for example. We share 50 percent of our genes with siblings, but just over ten percent with cousins, and obviously we are less inclined to help those who aren’t blood relatives.

Reciprocal altruism also shapes our social natures. It means that, beyond the bounds of kinship, we’re kind to people who’ve been kind to us in the past. In the classic game theory experiment, the Prisoner’s Dilemma, two players choose to either cooperate with one another or sell each other down the river. In repeated rounds, players always help those who have cooperated in the past instead of those who have previously betrayed them. If family comes first, friends are a close second.

We also naturally conform to the rules of groups we belong to, because we want to be accepted. This process is quite nuanced, because of our high intelligence as a species.

We developed abstract thinking as our brains became more and more complex. We created theories about our world to give us a sense of control and understanding.

This fostered the creation of transcendent beliefs and religion, which helped make our social groups more cohesive still and gave us something to live for. We didn’t just seek material resources, but social status as well.

Eventually, these changes led to the development of politics. Different social groups with separate gods, flags or races fought to assert their place in the world. These bonded groups can be powerfully enduring. Group identity is still very important to us – we are biologically inclined toward it.

In the earliest societies, families formed tribes together, but they lacked a central authority.

About 10,000 years ago, humans began permanently settling and growing crops. This increased population density, which compelled people to form more organized social groups beyond immediate families, called tribes.

Tribes led to the earliest forms of justice and property ownership. Justice was defined by family and ancestral connections, and there wasn’t a higher third party to adjudicate any disputes.

The first states emerged because of family power, but they also constantly battled it.

You might imagine that the first modern states were shaped by the Protestant Reformation, the Enlightenment or the Industrial Revolution. Actually, the first states are much older, and the real story is much more complex.

The earliest states were formed in China. By 770 BC there were 23 of them, but they merged into one after a violent unification process.

Religion contributed to a strong social order in India, but it hindered state-building.

Today, India is the world’s most populous democratic state, but this is actually a relatively recent development in its history.

In India, social and religious ideas developed before political or economic ideas. Around 900 BC, Brahmanic religion arose in India. It was focused on nature, rather than people’s ancestors.

Military slavery temporarily counterbalanced family loyalty in Middle Eastern states.

So what about the Middle East? Two main imperial systems arose: the Mamluks and their successors, the Ottomans. They perfected military slavery, and for a time weakened the strength of family and tribal ties by ensuring that the military power of individuals only lasted one generation.

“Mamluk” originally referred to a kind of soldier-slave used by various Islamic sultanates. Boys with no ties to a sultanate would be captured from places as distant as Armenia or the Sudan and raised as elite soldiers loyal to the sultan. They also were assigned educators who were eunuchs. The soldier-slaves were prevented from having families, so like the powerful eunuchs who had taught them, they passed nothing on to further generations – and were fully devoted to the state.

Only in Europe did religion end tribalism and give individuals property rights.

We’ve seen how family-centric tribalism and despotism can stagnate a society. Why didn’t these tendencies occur to the same extent in Europe?

In Europe, the Catholic Church became a centralized power and broke down tribalism through a series of social norms or laws that changed the nature of families and property ownership. The church banned close kin marriage, marriage to widows of dead relatives, adoption and divorce. Traditionally, these kinds of social arrangements had helped tribal groups keep their property within their group.

A state needs legitimacy to exist, but it doesn’t require accountability or checks on power.

How did China remain a unified state, without rule of law or political accountability?

Well, a strong state can persist without rule of law, if society views it as legitimate. In China, the dynasties derived their legitimacy from the Mandate of Heaven – the idea that rulers had complete authority in exchange for maintaining social peace.

Highly centralized states that couldn’t control their elites used corrupt methods to fund their wars.

Death and taxes are life’s certainties. Well, unless you were wealthy in seventeenth-century France or Spain.

Western European monarchs were constrained by the rule of law in taxation, so some found other ways of raising money for war.

Accountable governments can form when elites limit state power for the good of society.

In the 1215 Magna Carta, English nobility forced the monarchy into a constitutional compromise. Seven years later, a similar development occurred in Hungary, but the two country’s paths were very different. Why?

Well, the English state was formed after the king’s protection of non-elites had already been established. The king’s power was already limited.

States fail or prosper through historical accidents, institutional change and social mobilization.

So what conclusions can we draw from all of this? What lessons does history teach us about whether states will flourish or fail?

Overall, states decay because their institutions are too rigid, too nepotistic, or both. State institutions must keep adapting themselves to changes in their social or physical environment. States that favor family and friends over impersonal meritocracy will inevitably decay.

Du möchtest die gesamte Zusammenfassung von The Origins of Political Order sehen?

Kernaussagen in The Origins of Political Order

Mehr Wissen in weniger Zeit

Sachbücher auf den Punkt gebracht

Kernaussagen aus Sachbüchern in ca. 15 Minuten pro Titel lesen & anhören mit den „Blinks”

Zeitsparende Empfehlungen

Titel, die dein Leben bereichern, passend zu deinen Interessen und Zielen

Podcasts in Kurzform ^Neu

Kernaussagen wichtiger Podcasts im Kurzformat mit den neuen „Shortcasts”

Worum geht es in The Origins of Political Order?

In The Origins of Political Order, Francis Fukuyama delves into the history of modern state-building. Instead of focusing on Ancient Greece or Rome like many earlier scholars, he traces political histories in China, India, the Middle East and Europe. Using a comparative approach, Fukuyama explains how diverse political and social environments allowed Europe to develop many different political systems.

Bestes Zitat aus The Origins of Political Order

Fact: According to DNA testing, an estimated eight percent of present-day males in a very large region of Asia are thought to be descended from Genghis Khan.

—Francis Fukuyama

Wer The Origins of Political Order lesen sollte

Anyone interested in history
Anyone interested in politics or international relations
Anyone curious about the role of human biology in history

Über den Autor

Francis Fukuyama is a world-renowned historian and philosopher. He is especially well-known for his 1992 book The End of History and the Last Man, in which he argued that liberal democracy represented the end of political evolution – a thesis he has since revised. Fukuyama is currently a senior fellow at Stanford, and he’s lectured at John Hopkins, George Mason and many other top universities. He’s also completed research for the RAND corporation and the US State Department.

Kategorien mit The Origins of Political Order

Politik

Ähnliche Zusammenfassungen wie The Origins of Political Order

An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth

Chris Hadfield

What Going to Space Taught Me About Ingenuity, Determination, and Being Prepared for Anything

A Political Satire on the Corrupting Influence of Power

31 min

4.8

Willpower Doesn't Work

Benjamin Hardy

Discover the Hidden Keys to Success

18 min

4.3

The ONE Thing

Gary Keller and Jay Papasan

The surprisingly simple truth behind extraordinary results

The World’s First Tech Entrepreneur

Conversations with the World’s Most Creative People

The Value of Debt in Building Wealth

Thomas J. Anderson

Creating Your Glide Path to a Healthy Financial L.I.F.E

17 min

4.4

What Color Is Your Parachute? 2021

Richard N. Bolles with Katharine Brooks

Your Guide to a Lifetime of Meaningful Work and Career Success

26 min

4.3

UnMarketing

Scott Stratten and Alison Stratten

Everything Has Changed and Nothing is Different

The Cultural History of this Mystical Animal

Upgrade Your Brain, Learn Anything Faster, and Unlock Your Exceptional Life

A Business Fable About Shedding The Three Fears That Sabotage Client Loyalty

9 min

4.4

The Obstacle is the Way

Ryan Holiday

The Timeless Art of Turning Trials Into Triumph

Stephanie Moulton Sarkis

Recognize Manipulative and Emotionally Abusive People - and Break Free

18 min

4.3

The Little Book of Lykke

Meik Wiking

The Danish Search for the World's Happiest People

The Molecule That Made the World

How the Internet is Killing Democracy (And How We Save It)

Are You a Manager or a Movement Starter?

A Radical New Approach to Depression

Leading Flexible Teams To Do The Best Work of Their Lives

19 min

4.0

My Morning Routine

Benjamin Spall and Michael Xander

How Successful People Start Every Day Inspired

A Practical Guide to Leadership That Matters

Recognizing Faces and Feelings to Improve Communication and Emotional Life

Developing Focus and Discipline in Your Life

10 min

4.0

Until the End of Time

Brian Greene

Mind, Matter, and Our Search for Meaning in an Evolving Universe

Thurgood Marshall, the Groveland Boys, and the Dawn of a New America

16 min

Making Habits, Breaking Habits

Jeremy Dean

Why We Do Things, Why We Don’t, and How to Make Any Change Stick

Why and How You Should Take Back Control of Your Data

23 min

4.5

Nine Lies About Work

Marcus Buckingham & Ashley Goodall

A Freethinking Leader’s Guide to the Real World

8 min

3.8

The Promise of Bitcoin

Bobby C. Lee

The Future of Money and How It Can Work for You

The Unexpected Paths to Success from the World’s Most Inspiring Entrepreneurs

16 min

4.3

Profit from the Positive

Margaret Greenberg and Senia Maymin

Proven Leadership Strategies to Boost Productivity and Transform Your Business

21 min

4.3

Marketing Above the Noise

Linda J. Popky

Achieve Strategic Advantage with Marketing that Matters

And Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time

21 min

4.4

What You Don't Know about Leadership, But Probably Should

Jeffrey A. Kottler

Applications to Daily Life

14 min

4.2

The Molecule of More

Daniel Z. Lieberman and Michael E. Long

How a Single Chemical in Your Brain Drives Love, Sex, and Creativity – and Will Determine the Fate of the Human Race

26 min

4.7

The WEIRDest People in the World

Joseph Henrich

How the West Became Psychologically Peculiar and Particularly Prosperous

19 min

4.1

How to Fix Meetings

Graham Allcott and Hayley Watts

Meet Less, Focus on Outcomes and Get Stuff Done

19 min

4.4

The Black Swan

Nassim Nicholas Taleb

The Impact of the Highly Improbable

Productivity in the Age of Information and E-mail Overload

How to Overcome Anything and Build a Million Dollar Business With or Without Capital

Vipassana Meditation as Taught by S. N. Goenka

Gallup Finds the Quality of Managers and Team Leaders is the Single Biggest Factor in Your Organization's Long-term Success

Why Organizational Health Trumps Everything Else in Business

The Secret History Behind the Game That Changed the World

28 min

4.6

A More Beautiful Question

Warren Berger

The Power of Inquiry to Spark Breakthrough Ideas

14 min

4.1

Think Like an Entrepreneur, Act Like a CEO

Beverly E. Jones

50 Indispensable Tips to Help You Stay Afloat, Bounce Back, and Get Ahead at Work

20 min

4.2

❤️ für Blinkist️️️

Ines S.

Ich bin begeistert. Ich liebe Bücher aber durch zwei kleine Kinder komme ich einfach nicht zum Lesen. Und ja, viele Bücher haben viel bla bla und die Quintessenz ist eigentlich ein Bruchteil.

Genau dafür ist Blinkist total genial! Es wird auf das Wesentliche reduziert, die Blinks sind gut verständlich, gut zusammengefasst und auch hörbar! Das ist super. 80 Euro für ein ganzes Jahr klingt viel, aber dafür unbegrenzt Zugriff auf 3000 Bücher. Und dieses Wissen und die Zeitersparnis ist unbezahlbar.

Ekaterina S.

Extrem empfehlenswert. Statt sinnlos im Facebook zu scrollen höre ich jetzt täglich zwischen 3-4 "Bücher". Bei manchen wird schnelle klar, dass der Kauf unnötig ist, da schon das wichtigste zusammen gefasst wurde..bei anderen macht es Lust doch das Buch selbständig zu lesen. Wirklich toll

Nils S.

Einer der besten, bequemsten und sinnvollsten Apps die auf ein Handy gehören. Jeden morgen 15-20 Minuten für die eigene Weiterbildung/Entwicklung oder Wissen.

Julia P.

Viele tolle Bücher, auf deren Kernaussagen reduziert- präzise und ansprechend zusammengefasst. Endlich habe ich das Gefühl, Zeit für Bücher zu finden, für die ich sonst keine Zeit habe.