Political Order And Inequality: Their Foundations And Their Consequences For Human Welfare (cambridge Studies In Comparative Politics)
by Carles Boix /
2015 / English / PDF
10.6 MB Download
The fundamental question of political theory, one that precedes all
other questions about the nature of political life, is why there is
a state at all. Is human cooperation feasible without a political
authority enforcing it? Or do we need a state to live together?
This problem then opens up two further questions. If a state is
necessary to establish order, how does it come into place? And,
when it does, what are the consequences for the political status
and economic welfare of its citizens? Combining ethnographical
material, historical cases, and statistical analysis, this book
describes the foundations of stateless societies, why and how
states emerge, and the basis of political obligation. As a result
of this inquiry, it explains the economic and political roots of
inequality, describes the causes of the stagnation of the
preindustrial world, and explores what led to the West's prosperity
of the past two centuries.
The fundamental question of political theory, one that precedes all
other questions about the nature of political life, is why there is
a state at all. Is human cooperation feasible without a political
authority enforcing it? Or do we need a state to live together?
This problem then opens up two further questions. If a state is
necessary to establish order, how does it come into place? And,
when it does, what are the consequences for the political status
and economic welfare of its citizens? Combining ethnographical
material, historical cases, and statistical analysis, this book
describes the foundations of stateless societies, why and how
states emerge, and the basis of political obligation. As a result
of this inquiry, it explains the economic and political roots of
inequality, describes the causes of the stagnation of the
preindustrial world, and explores what led to the West's prosperity
of the past two centuries.