Political Order and Political Decay
From the Industrial Revolution to the Globalization of Democracy
About the book
Francis Fukuyama's second volume on the modern state picks up where The Origins of Political Order left off, following political institutions from the French Revolution to the present. He weighs three pillars, a capable state, the rule of law and democratic accountability, and argues that an ideal modern state needs all three in balance. Case studies cover Prussia, Japan, China, Latin America and the United States, whose weak, patronage-ridden early state was rebuilt by the Progressive Movement and the New Deal. He also examines corruption, the differing legacies of colonialism in Asia, Africa and Latin America, and the Arab Spring. While still favoring liberal democracy, Fukuyama warns that decay from within threatens it.
David Heinemeier Hansson, near the end after about 50 hours of listening across this and the first volume, called its history of political order uniquely timely amid the current upheaval.
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This book has 1 recommendation
David Heinemeier Hansson (Co-Founder/Basecamp)
In the last 10% of Political Order and Political Decay. It’s been about 50 hours of listening between that volume and the first, The Origins of Political Order. So quite the undertaking. But we’ve finally progressed all the way through the history of political order and arrived at Fukuyama’s diagnosis of modern day societies. It’s a truly epic journey, and one that’s uniquely timely to the current upheaval. “Things are so crazy now” is only something you’d say in the absence of a historical perspective. These books give you just that and then some.
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