part I: Before the state. The necessity of politics
Tribal societies : property, justice, war
The coming of the leviathan
part II: State building. Chinese tribalism
War and the rise of the Chinese state
Political decay and the return of patrimonial government
Weaknesses of Indian politics
Slavery and the Muslim exit from tribalism
The functioning and decline of the Ottoman state
- Christianity undermines the family
part III: The rule of law. The origins of the rule of law
The church becomes a state
The state becomes a church
part IV: Accountable government. The rise of political accountability
Patrimonialism crosses the Atlantic
Toward a more perfect absolutism
Taxation and representation
Why accountability? Why absolutism?
part V: Toward a theory of political development. Political development and political decay
Political development, then and now.
