Perspective

Fukuyama is writing about the history of political development and for the main section of the work takes a historical perspective of past events. He recounts the emergence of state institutions in China, India, the Middle East and Europe, using a comparative approach that looks at individual elements of political development in relationship to one another.

Fukuyama does not limit himself to a strictly historical perspective, however. He takes a very broad approach, incorporating the natural sciences, economics, geography and religion as well as political science. He is critical of previous theorists who look for one single cause, such as economics, to explain all political development. He also avoids the narrow view of the anthropologist who might focus only on one group of people. Only through a broad perspective that looks at all the contributing factors can a full understanding of political development be obtained, he believes.

Fukuyama...