Political Order and Political Decay: From the Industrial Revolution to the Globalisation of Democracy

Political Order and Political Decay: From the Industrial Revolution to the Globalisation of Democracy

by Francis Fukuyama (Author)

Synopsis

In The Origins of Political Order, Francis Fukuyama took us from the dawn of mankind to the French and American Revolutions. Here, he picks up the thread again in the second instalment of his definitive account of mankind's emergence as a political animal. This is the story of how state, law and democracy developed after these cataclysmic events, how the modern landscape - with its uneasy tension between dictatorships and liberal democracies - evolved and how in the United States and in other developed democracies, unmistakable signs of decay have emerged. If we want to understand the political systems that dominate and order our lives, we must first address their origins - in our own recent past as well as in the earliest systems of human government. Fukuyama argues that the key to successful government can be reduced to three key elements: a strong state, the rule of law, and institutions of democratic accountability. This magisterial account is required reading for anyone wishing to know more about mankind's greatest achievements.

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More Information

Format: Hardcover
Pages: 464
Edition: Main
Publisher: Profile Books
Published: 25 Sep 2014

ISBN 10: 1846684366
ISBN 13: 9781846684364
Book Overview: Part two of the most important book about the history and future of politics since The End of History
Prizes: Shortlisted for Paddy Power Political Book Awards: International Affairs Book of the Year 2015.

Media Reviews
Praise for Origins of Political Order 'Fukuyama remains as prominent as ever * Financial Times *
This is that rare work of history with up-to-the-minute relevance * Publishers Weekly (starred review) *
Elegant, honest, persuasive ... he attacks his former academic allies and friends ... with a relentless and awesome force * Glasgow Herald *
Thoroughly worthwhile ... [the book] will give many thoughtful people a sensible path forward * Spectator *
Sweeping, provocative big-picture study of humankind's political impulses...Endlessly interesting - reminiscent at turns of Oswald Spengler, Stanislaw Andreski and Samuel Huntington, though less pessimistic and much better written * Kirkus Reviews (starred) *
It should be read by every democrat - and every dictator -- Dominic Lawson
Societies that learn from mistakes rather than punish them have an inherent resilience...It is confirmed by this ambitious work * The Times *
This sort of blockbuster history of the political and social world rarely comes along. Only someone of Francis Fukuyama's calibre could have written this brilliant tome * Daily Telegraph Sydney *
Magisterial and mammoth...Superbly written and widely researched, Fukuyama offers a fantastic, insightful take on the story of political development * Cape Times, South Africa *
Fukuyama has produced a work of epic scope * Independent on Sunday *
Fukuyama's new work sits rather neatly somewhere between a ''tour d'horizon'' and a ''tour de force''. * Canberra Times, Australia *
Fukuyama writes about the degeneration of America's political system with the passion and frustration of a prophet straining to be heard over a cacophony of partisanship and ideological dogma. It is to be hoped that he will make himself heard: this excellent volume of comparative history and political science should be read by politicians and public alike -- Tim Bouverie * Spectator *
Author Bio
Francis Fukuyama is the author of The End of History, The Great Disruption, Our Posthuman Future, State Building, After the Neocons, The Origins of Political Order and Political Order and Political Decay. All have been hugely influential international bestsellers, translated and published in many languages. He is Olivier Nomellini Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, Stanford.