The reformers of Emperor Meiji’s Japan, Atatürk’s Turkey and even Lenin’s USSR were evangelists of isomorphism, of catching up, better late than never. In each country, their evangelism sparked a reaction—a nostalgic assertion of the unique soul and spirit of the nation in literature and politics and a denunciation of the cold, heartless logic of m

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The proposed Constitution “forms a happy combination in this respect; the great and aggregate interests being referred to the national, the local and particular to the State legislatures.”67 Madison thus deployed scale across space to reverse time: history would henceforth strengthen his republic by allowing factions to compete at all levels, so th

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Can a political society really be governed by reflection and election, by reason and truth, rather than by accident and violence, by prejudice and deceit? Is there any arrangement of government—any constitution—by which it’s possible for a people to rule themselves, justly and fairly, and as equals, through the exercise of judgment and care? Or are

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With the possible exception of the early stages of farming, past transitions have always involved periods of social chaos and heightened violence due to disorientation and breakdown of the old system. Corruption, moral decline, and inefficiency appear to be signal features of the final stages of a system. The growing importance of technology in sha

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