ABSTRACT
The idea that legitimacy is a source o f success in the competitive world
environment is a central thesis o f this book. In chapter 3 we advanced our
theoretical perspective on the competition between social orders, i.e., the
world market for protection, which functions as the central mechanism
through which more legitimate orders are rewarded with success and less
legitimate orders are punished and fall behind. This competition, based on
the quality o f order and decisive for economic success, is the central means
o f selection and supports convergence in the shaping o f core societies. The
rise and decline o f nations thus each depend upon political decisions, which
create societal models and their specific arrangements (cf. Olson 1982, and
Kennedy 1987, for alternative explanations).
