ABSTRACT
Political regimes have always been the subject of intense debate among the population, because they affect human beings tremendously. They are as important as economic regimes, if not more important, since law and order may trump prosperity. Yet little is known about why political regimes succeed each other. Fukuyama ventured to suggest that democracy is the end-product of political evolution, arguing that the progression of human history as a struggle between ideologies is largely at an end, with the world settling upon liberal democracy following the end of the Cold War (Fukuyama, 1993). Democracy may score high on moral appeal, but one would like to understand the principal-agent mechanism which drives the search for democracy and results in a demand for regime change. Democracy is certainly not the sole polity today, and there are several types of democracies achieving rule of law. This chapter suggests a few central elements in the evolution of political regimes, which may help to explain why certain institutions have been successful while others have not. Polities clearly adapt to change, especially long-term economic change. If there is a concept such as political viability, what drives the evolution of political institutions on a macro scale? Political viability could be a new relevant concept, meaning that political systems survive if they can adapt to the environment. However, adaptation could mean several things which have to be pinned down.
