Francis Fukuyama
Political scientist: liberal democracy may be the end point of the evolution of political ideas.
Life
American political scientist born in 1952, professor at Stanford. In 'The End of History?' (1989) he argues that Western liberal democracy may be the end point of humanity's ideological evolution, for lack of a viable alternative. He has since written on trust, human nature and state-building.
Main works
Liberal democracy may be the final form of government.
The long version: the demand for recognition explains liberalism's victory.
A study of the social and moral changes in Western societies since the 1960s.
Biotechnology could alter human nature and the rights built on it.
In his own words
« What we may be witnessing is not just the end of the Cold War, or the passing of a particular period of postwar history, but the end of history as such: that is, the end point of mankind's ideological evolution and the universalization of Western liberal democracy as the final form of human government. »
« The triumph of the West, of the Western idea, is evident first of all in the total exhaustion of viable systematic alternatives to Western liberalism. »
Positions
click a row to see the evidenceHuman dignity and rights rest on a shared human nature, which is why biotechnology must not alter it.
Fukuyama, Our Posthuman Future (2002)
He holds that a stable, shared human nature exists, marked by a deep need for recognition, and that it should be protected from biotechnological change.
Fukuyama, Our Posthuman Future (2002)
Liberal democracy, which protects individual rights and equal recognition, may be the final form of government because it best satisfies the human wish for recognition.
Fukuyama, The End of History and the Last Man (1992)