Evolution and Political Control a Synopsis of a General Theory of Politics

Abstract

In the past several years, there has been a broad-based renewal of interest in the explanation of social change. One manifestation of this trend has been a return to the “roots” of human society, in an effort to gain greater understanding of the causal dynamics underlying socio-cultural evolution. Though much new data and many insights and hypotheses have been added to our store of knowledge about the evolutionary process, no general theoretical synthesis has so far been attempted. Some theorists maintain that no such synthesis is possible — that the subject-matter is inherently too complex and refractory, or that a synthesis at this point is premature. I obviously disagree. I believe the time is ripe.