Saturday, June 13, 2020

Book Report: "The Origins of Political Order: From Prehuman Times to the French Revolution"

The Origins of Political Order: From Prehuman Times to the French RevolutionThe Origins of Political Order: From Prehuman Times to the French Revolution by Francis Fukuyama
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Francis Fukuyama offers up a fascinating premise that he only manages to partially deliver. Promising he will deduce some sort of unified theory on how and why cultures develop various types of political infrastructure -- or at least explain why some cultures come up with different results than others -- he ends up with a scattershot grab bag of half-explanations and qualifiers.

Without going on to say it, Fukuyama seems to conclude that there is no way to predict how a particular society will develop. Each cohort of people is driven by a number of different factors, and there is no invisible hand nudging a group to one milepost or another.

Even though Fukuyama doesn't manage to prove much of anything, he makes a number of fascinating points that make his book worthwhile. The influence of a dominant religion in a culture seems to be the deciding factor on whether or not a particular form of government will stick.

Also, the way a society tolerates or rejects a stringent rule of law will influence not only the solidity of governmental infrastructure, but the economic success of the people as a whole. Finally, the amount of organization and resources supported the ability of each culture to export its manipulation onto the others.

The book is at its best when it dallies off its main path and delves into the buried details of how various cultures evolved their forms of governance over time, as well as the influence each had on another.

Jonathan Davis provides steady and smooth narration in the Audible version, but makes some occasional distracting pronunciation choices. Overall, he delivers the writing in the tone of an enthusiastic T.A., reflecting the conversationality of the author's work.

While the book seems like an attempt at a grandiose thesis that lost its way somewhere along the research aspect and ended up circling on itself, it's still a worthy read or listen for history and political science geeks. Just don't expect the jog on the treadmill to take you anywhere.

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