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Political Order and Political Decay
- From the Industrial Revolution to the Globalization of Democracy
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis
- Length: 24 hrs and 1 min
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The Origins of Political Order: From Prehuman Times to the French Revolution
- Written by: Francis Fukuyama
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis
- Length: 22 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Virtually all human societies were once organized tribally, yet over time most developed new political institutions which included a central state that could keep the peace and uniform laws that applied to all citizens. Some went on to create governments that were accountable to their constituents. We take these institutions for granted, but they are absent or are unable to perform in many of today’s developing countries—with often disastrous consequences for the rest of the world.
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Cannot possibly retain the info... waste of $$
- By Nick on 2019-05-02
Written by: Francis Fukuyama
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The Great Mental Models
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The Great Mental Models: General Thinking Concepts is the first book in The Great Mental Models series designed to upgrade your thinking with the best, most useful and powerful tools so you always have the right one on hand. This volume details nine of the most versatile all-purpose mental models you can use right away to improve your decision making, your productivity, and how clearly you see the world.
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Great information let down by the narration
- By Jason on 2019-04-27
Written by: Shane Parrish
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Volume 1 of the gripping epic masterpiece, Solzhenitsyn's chilling report of his arrest and interrogation, which exposed to the world the vast bureaucracy of secret police that haunted Soviet society. Features a new foreword by Anne Applebaum.
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A must read for the budding western communists
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All Against All is the story of the season our world changed from postwar to prewar again. It is about the power of bad ideas - exploring why, during a single winter, between November 1932 and April 1933, so much went so wrong. Historian Paul Jankowski reveals that it was collective mentalities and popular beliefs that drove this crucial period that sent nations on the path to war, as much as any rational calculus called "national interest".
Written by: Paul Jankowski
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A major new collection from "arguably the most important intellectual alive" ( The New York Times). Noam Chomsky is universally accepted as one of the preeminent public intellectuals of the modern era. Over the past thirty years, broadly diverse audiences have gathered to attend his sold-out lectures. Now, in Understanding Power, Peter Mitchell and John Schoeffel have assembled the best of Chomsky's recent talks on the past, present, and future of the politics of power.
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Truly essential Chomsky
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Every day of your life is spent surrounded by mysteries that involve what appear to be rather ordinary human behaviors. What makes you happy? Where did your personality come from? Why do you have trouble controlling certain behaviors? Why do you behave differently as an adult than you did as an adolescent?Since the start of recorded history, and probably even before, people have been interested in answering questions about why we behave the way we do.
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Decent overview, but unsurprising and unoriginal
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Written by: Mark Leary, and others
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The Origins of Political Order: From Prehuman Times to the French Revolution
- Written by: Francis Fukuyama
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis
- Length: 22 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Virtually all human societies were once organized tribally, yet over time most developed new political institutions which included a central state that could keep the peace and uniform laws that applied to all citizens. Some went on to create governments that were accountable to their constituents. We take these institutions for granted, but they are absent or are unable to perform in many of today’s developing countries—with often disastrous consequences for the rest of the world.
-
-
Cannot possibly retain the info... waste of $$
- By Nick on 2019-05-02
Written by: Francis Fukuyama
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The Great Mental Models
- General Thinking Concepts
- Written by: Shane Parrish
- Narrated by: Shane Parrish
- Length: 3 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Great Mental Models: General Thinking Concepts is the first book in The Great Mental Models series designed to upgrade your thinking with the best, most useful and powerful tools so you always have the right one on hand. This volume details nine of the most versatile all-purpose mental models you can use right away to improve your decision making, your productivity, and how clearly you see the world.
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Great information let down by the narration
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Written by: Shane Parrish
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The Gulag Archipelago, Volume 1
- An Experiment in Literary Investigation
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Overall
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Volume 1 of the gripping epic masterpiece, Solzhenitsyn's chilling report of his arrest and interrogation, which exposed to the world the vast bureaucracy of secret police that haunted Soviet society. Features a new foreword by Anne Applebaum.
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A must read for the budding western communists
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Truly essential Chomsky
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Decent overview, but unsurprising and unoriginal
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Publisher's Summary
The second volume of the best-selling landmark work on the history of the modern state. Writing in the Wall Street Journal, David Gress called Francis Fukuyama's Origins of Political Order "magisterial in its learning and admirably immodest in its ambition." In the New York Times Book Review, Michael Lind described the book as "a major achievement by one of the leading public intellectuals of our time." And in the Washington Post, Gerard DeGrott exclaimed "this is a book that will be remembered. Bring on volume two." Volume two is finally here, completing the most important work of political thought in at least a generation. Taking up the essential question of how societies develop strong, impersonal, and accountable political institutions, Fukuyama follows the story from the French Revolution to the so-called Arab Spring and the deep dysfunctions of contemporary American politics. He examines the effects of corruption on governance, and why some societies have been successful at rooting it out. He explores the different legacies of colonialism in Latin America, Africa, and Asia, and offers a clear-eyed account of why some regions have thrived and developed more quickly than others. And he boldly reckons with the future of democracy in the face of a rising global middle class and entrenched political paralysis in the West. A sweeping, masterful account of the struggle to create a well-functioning modern state, Political Order and Political Decay is destined to be a classic.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.
What listeners say about Political Order and Political Decay
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Hash
- 2018-06-30
Deep and interesting
I’ve read his first volume and I found it extremely thorough and enlightening, this was the same, but does take concentration
1 person found this helpful
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- Gary
- 2014-12-29
Understanding our place thru Poly Sci
There is a certain beauty to this book. The author completely convinces the listener that there is no more important field of study to understand the world and how we got where we are then Political Science. The author is that good at laying the foundations for his points. Moreover, the author is telling an incredible complicated story with many different moving parts but he excels at telling you what he's going to tell you, tells you, and then tells you what he just told you, and then just in case you didn't understand his points he'll explain them once again by comparing and contrasting with some diametrically opposed counter examples.
This volume can be read independently from the first volume. The listener should just pick the area he is most interested in. This volume looks at the more direct relationships to how our current political entities evolved to their current configurations.
He explained China to me in such a way that I have to reconsider how I perceive them. For the last 30 years, their form of authoritarian rule might have been much better than a democracy since they have such a small middle class relative to the other classes. The concerns expressed at Tiananmen Square have fallen on the wayside in today's China. Overall, he gave a fascinating discussion concerning China.
I know that Political Science isn't the most important way to understand who we are, but it definitely helps in our understanding by thinking about our institutions, rule of law, and state structures. The one thing that the author did that really irritated me was in parts of the book he would make the false equivalence claim such as "both the Tea Party and progressive Democrats are to blame for ...", any sentence that starts that way is flawed. He argues there is a mushy middle between the two extreme positions and neither one is correct. I'll let the listener decide for himself, as for me I disagree. He also made a statement that our current congress wanted to shut down the government rather than pay for past debts owed by the federal government and putting us into a fiscal catastrophe. I just don't see it that way. It was only one political party that wanted to renege on past government debt.
Overall, the book is very likeable, makes one appreciate the role for Political Scientist and gives one valid way for describing how we got where we are today.
51 people found this helpful
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- cosmitron
- 2018-01-03
Worth your time.
If you could sum up Political Order and Political Decay in three words, what would they be?
Although this writer tends to be difficult at times to stay involved, if you make an extra effort
you will be rewarded with interesting ideas.
What was one of the most memorable moments of Political Order and Political Decay?
none
Have you listened to any of Jonathan Davis’s other performances before? How does this one compare?
no
If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?
that would be a tough film to make.
Any additional comments?
Do not stop to early you have to give it some time.
41 people found this helpful
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- Gordana
- 2015-05-27
A strong second volume
As an European, I have to confess I did have some prejudice against a mainstream American political scientist, half-expecting that the book will be 672 pages of praise of the American system. I was put to shame. This was a somber and analytical analysis of different systems, which actually did not conclude that liberal democracy is the only possible way ahead for the rest of the world.
It's hard to review a second volume of a two-volume work without comparing it to the first, and that comparison ends unfavorably for this one. While the first one was organized beautifully, geographically and historically, starting with China, and then moving through India, the Arab world, Turkey, Byzantium ending up in Western Europe, the volume two seemed more disorganized, fragmented, but then, so is the modern world. The book did have some central points, and these were repeated more times than I care for. But the repetition did serve its purpose: Although I can't give you a nice quick overview of the organization of this volume, I can certainly tell you, without much hesitation, all that you want to know about difference between clientelism and patronage, or the importance of building state institutions before democratization.
It's absolutely a book worth the time and effort, and the only reason or gets four stars from me is that I enjoyed the first volume more.
27 people found this helpful
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- chetyarbrough.blog
- 2015-05-14
DEMOCRACY
Francis Fukuyama offers a benediction and warning about democracy in “Political Order and Political Decay”. His book is difficult to absorb because of its wide territorial coverage and a listener’s sense that political theory is being justified as much as proven. However, Fukuyama impressively argues that democracy is the best form of government in the world and may evolve into a form of government that is best for all modern societies. He examines the current state of American democracy and other forms of democracy developed, or developing, in other countries.
Fukuyama explains there are three pillars of democracy. First, a state must be formed to protect its citizens and its territory. Second, rule-of-law must be established to constrain power held by the few over the many. And three, accountability must be institutionalized for policies that serve the interest of all the people; not only factions or special interests. When any of these supports are weakened, democracy decays.
If Fukuyama’s theory is correct, it offers a road map to America for its leadership role in the world. The road map starts with America righting its own ship of state by being a good example of democracy. America should support outside countries’ efforts to become independent democracies. Fukuyama suggests every developing sovereign country should be treated with respect based on their road to nationhood. Governments will form based on acquiring their own state identity. America’s role is to support nations trying to establish rule-of-law’ policies that serve interests of their citizens. Finally, America’s role is to demonstrate, encourage, and supplement other nations’ efforts to create institutional organizations that promote the pillars of democracy; with the United States, not as a parent, but as a partner.
16 people found this helpful
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- Art
- 2015-01-11
Not the right medium for this work
Would you try another book from Francis Fukuyama and/or Jonathan Davis?
I would try another book, particularly the first volume of this work. However, I really don't think that audio is the right medium for Political Order and Political Decay. You really need to be able to see the charts and graphs, as well as stop to think about and write notes on the topic. A hard copy may be in the works for my future reading list.
14 people found this helpful
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- Jean
- 2014-10-09
Interesting look at society.
The book basic theme is to review and discuss the underlying rules by which societies organize themselves. The book covers from approximately 1806 to date. During this time political institutions, the modern state, rule of law and accountable government developed to a dominant model.
Fukayama divides the book into four sections. 1) The establishment of the modern states 2) Its expansion to other regions of the world 3) the concurrent spread of democracy 4) the degeneration of formerly successful democratic institutions. The author primarily has synthesized the existing literature on the topic and presents it in a readable organized manner even if it is a somewhat academic style. The author is primarily concerned about the functionality of government.
In school I remember studying Aristotle. I remember learning one of his major insights was “the purpose of politics is in not to make living together possible, but to make living well possible.” Whereas Fukuyama suggests that politics has the more limited role of simply enabling innately disputatious humans to live together at all.
I understand Fukayama has written another book entitled “The Origins of Political Order” 2011 and this current book is a continuation of the first book. The first book is over 600 pages so I am not sure I will tackle that book and just allow this second book to satisfy my curiosity about the subject. This book is also a long book just over 24 hours of listening in the audio book format. This book is packed with so much information I will have to read it a number of times to fully process and understand it. Jonathan Davis did a good job narrating the book.
13 people found this helpful
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- Olaf the Black
- 2018-11-23
Conflicted...
On the one hand, the author does a wonderful job of laying out many of the political issues of the past 200 years. And yet, this is where the book begins to fall short. Whereas the first volume was fantastic, the author did a far better job of capturing the realties of the distant past than the recent past and present day. Where he begins to fall short, and where a stumble turns into freefall, is the fact that he clearly understands nothing of the enlightenment era, objective philosophy, natural law, universal morality, etc... So while he accurately identifies SOME of the issues in politics of the past 200 years, he misses a solid 50% of them because he isn't knowledgeable of them or refuses to give those points of view a platform. Basically this book outlines some issues and then advocates for more and bigger government with even more deep state bureaucracy. This is antithetical to all things related to America, the Constitution, liberty, and so much more. So all in all this was a deeply disappointing book and I found myself quite upset with the author's bias. Honestly, I hated it. But that said, it is one of those books that I tell everyone they must absolutely get and read several times. Just because I dislike the book doesn't mean that what is in is isn't incredibly important. So it's a MUST READ but prepare to be angry and disappointed.
11 people found this helpful
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- Sierra Bravo
- 2014-12-30
A very good textbook - but still a textbook
Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
It would have to be a friend very interested in political science. If this is not a subject you consider yourself very interested in you are probably not going to make it through all 24 hours.
What other book might you compare Political Order and Political Decay to and why?
In many ways it is similar to Henry Kissinger's book "World Order" although more from a person well researched in the field than someone who has been through it first person. This book references numerous previous works and summarizes their viewpoints, where they agree and where they contrast still the author circles back to where he sees the piece fitting in the whole puzzle and how that differs from some of the previous works.
Which scene was your favorite?
There are no scenes the the explanation of why just plunking "democracy" down in a new country does not fix the problems we might hope it would is very instructive.The narrator is very good. Would be a tougher read without him.
If you could give Political Order and Political Decay a new subtitle, what would it be?
"All about how governments work, or don't, as the case may be"
Any additional comments?
I would not suggest this book for a long trip. It is just too heavy and even borderline dry in spots. Much easier to handle in smaller chunks. Finally if it is knowledge you crave (as opposed to "credits") this book will probably teach you far more than any intro to poly sci class you might take. A lot cheaper too.
9 people found this helpful
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- DS
- 2015-03-26
brilliant food for thought
comprehensive, thoughtful, fact based look at where we've been (ie the world) and thoughts on where we could be going with either good leaders or bad. HIGHLY recommended.
5 people found this helpful
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- Dillon
- 2017-03-12
Mediocre in content
Mr. Fukuyama is quite the smart and well versed man. This book and the one prior cover quite a breadth of information. And while there is a runnIng theme in the two, it almost feel ancillar given how spaced out it is. Really I feel the two long tomes could have been giveb due detail but accomplished in a quarter of the time.
I also think the core message is blandly generic: we created various civilizations with XYZ features because of either random PQ events or chance and now they are decaying in ABC ways which are, in specific terms, hard to predict and thus solve.
Both volumes are packed full of interesting bit of history I didn't know, especially the first one. For that, the book is good. But perhaps only for that.
4 people found this helpful
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- mikus
- 2023-02-28
Just another heavy, but solid position.
Those 2 books by Fukuyama should be obligatory in high schools all around the world. Not only it's packed with diverse and well picked examples, not only it offers tons of well thought-off, but not intrusive conclusions, but it's also a great way to learn history, and how it influences us all the time.
There is definitely a lot to unpack about modern governments, recent developments and where we are going. A perfect guide for any adult voter and also makes current political situation, its players and problems much more transparent.
Of course, it is long, it is a bit heavy. It's easy to lose focus since it's an audiobook, but most concepts are summarized at multiple levels, which makes it much easier to handle. I really wish to read both this and previous part again, to pick up more details, but there is just too many books out there.
Finally, it's well read, in rather neutral, but easy to understand way. There are some references to the previous book, but it's definitely not necessary to have read it, nor is it a problem if you did, as this one really focuses on different topics.
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- Tudor
- 2017-02-15
Brilliant overview of many disciplines
Liked it over and over and it's a must have on the bookshelf to have a better picture of what happens and has happened in the world.