Branko Milanovic: A Grand Fresco: Francis Fukuym's "The Origins of Political Order': "When does the political order decay? When the state is incapable to reform itself to respond to new challenges (say, a powerful neighbor) and when it gets repatrimonalized. The decay section is not exactly novel (to be unable to reform is not very original), but the emphasis on repatrimonization as the source of decay allows us to better see that the state remains an unnatural organization in the sense that it is permanently in danger of succumbing to the more atavistic instincts of human nature—to prefer own kin rather than be subject to impersonal rules...
#noted
