Violence and Social Orders: A Conceptual Framework for Interpreting Recorded Human History

All societies must deal with the possibility of violence, and they do so in different ways. This book integrates the problem of violence into a larger social science and historical framework, showing how economic and political behavior are closely linked. Most societies, which we call natural states, limit violence by political manipulation of the economy to create privileged interests. These privileges limit the use of violence by powerful individuals, but doing so hinders both economic and political development. In contrast, modern societies create open access to economic and political organizations, fostering political and economic competition. The book provides a framework for understanding the two types of social orders, why open access societies are both politically and economically more developed, and how some 25 countries have made the transition between the two types.

Author: Douglass C. North, John Joseph Wallis, Barry R. Weingast
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 05/28/2009
Pages: 346
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.40lbs
Size: 9.10h x 6.10w x 1.20d
ISBN: 9780521761734

Review Citation(s):
Chronicle of Higher Education 05/08/2009 pg. 21
Choice 01/01/2010

About the Author
North, Douglass C.: - Douglass C. North is co-recipient of the 1993 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Science. He is Spencer T. Olin Professor in Arts and Sciences at Washington University, St Louis and Bartlett Burnap Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University.Wallis, John Joseph: - John Joseph Wallis is Professor of Economics at the University of Maryland and a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research.Weingast, Barry R.: - Barry R. Weingast is Ward C. Krebs Family Professor in the Department of Political Science and a Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University.