ABSTRACT
The basic aim of the present theory can be stated quite simply: It is to explain as many as possible of the more important characteristics of human societies, both individually and collectively, past as well as present, as parsimoniously and as falsifiably as possible. Why for example, have some societies been large and others small? Why have some had a complex division of labor and large urban populations while others have had neither? Why have some bad substantial inequality among their members while others have had little? Why have some been warlike and expansionistic while others have been peaceable and content to live within their boundaries? In short, the new evolutionary theory seeks to provide a theoretical foundation for a comprehensive science of human societies.
