Francis Fukuyama:Political order

Francis Fukuyama, an American political scientist, has written “The origins of political order” in 2011 and “Political order and political Decay: From the industrial revolution to the present day, both describing political institutions, their development and role and importance in different countries. A good description of his political theory is available here and here.

He traces the development of these institutions over time and relative to one another in different countries. Fukuyama stresses the importance of the three pillars of the modern state: the state (executive capability to exercise power), Rule of Law and Democratic Accountability. He argues that the strength of these three institutions need to be finely balanced in liberal democracies. In an ideal system, a powerful and efficient state is kept in check by the people, and by the law so that it does not become despotic.

He says that different regions and countries developed these three institutions, at different times. China, for example, developed a strong state early on, but never fully developed the rule of law or political accountability. India developed institutions akin to the rule of law early in its history, but not strong states.

He traces the development of these institutions in China, Japan, Prussia, Latin America and the United States, before warning against the decay of institutions. Fukuyama describes the early U.S. having a weak state, with goods and offices handed out based on corruption and patrimony, partially because democracy entrenched itself without a strong state with capacity to rule effectively. However, the Progressive Movement and the New Deal transformed the American state and made it much stronger and more effective.

Today, The system of excessive checks and balances leads to small interest groups blocking measures beneficial to the public at large. Dysfunctional political divides results in small networks capturing political outcomes. Special interest groups capture Congress, excessively influence the legislative process, distort taxes and spending, introduce self-conflicting mandates to bureaucracies, and use the judicial process to challenge and delay actions in costly proceedings.

This results in a vicious cycle where a poorly performing state, reinforces distrust and lessens investments in the state, leading to even poorer performances.