What is required to create and sustain a political order is debated as intensively today as it has ever been. Constitutions are being written and rewritten in many parts of the world, a great many possibilities are being explored, and much that matters deeply to millions of people hangs on the results. In the eighteen chapters, all previously unpublished, that make up the present volume, major scholars address some of the most pressing questions about political order.

Under what conditions do we get political order rather than political chaos? How is political order sustained once it has been created? Do constitutions and electoral systems matter, and if so how much? Is there one best type of political order, or, if not, what is the range of viable possibilities and how should they be evaluated?