Darwinism, Dominance, and Democracy: The Biological Bases of Authoritarianism Somit, Albert and Peterson, Steven A.

Somit and Peterson seek to explain an incontrovertible, though hardly welcome fact: throughout human history, the overwhelming majority of political societies have been characterized by the rule of the few over the many, by dominance and submission, by command and obedience. Evolutionary theory provides an important part of the explanation: humans have been subject to natural selection and one result is that the species tends to feature dominance hierarchies, obedience to authority, and indoctrinability as various means of maintaining social order. These evolution-based behavioral tendencies help to explain the success of authoritarianism and the relative lack of success of democracy over time.

DOI: 10.1336/0275958175 Mouse over the Digital Object Identifier (DOI) to learn more about this book or related books published by Greenwood Publishing Group. Visit the Greenwood Publishing Group page for this title: http://www.greenwood.com/catalog/C5817.aspx

Darwinism, Dominance, and Democracy: The Biological Bases of Authoritarianism Series: Human Evolution, Behavior, and Intelligence Hardback, 160 pages, $99.95 Copyright ©1997, Praeger Publishers ISBN: 0-275-95817-5 DOI: 10.1336/0275958175

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