The Fourth Revolution: The Global Race to Reinvent the State

The Fourth Revolution: The Global Race to Reinvent the State

From the bestselling authors of The Right Nation, a visionaryÂ argument that our current crisis in government is nothing less than theÂ fourth radical transition in the history of the nation-state

Dysfunctional government: Itâ€™s become a clichÃ©,Â and most of us are resigned to the fact that nothingÂ is ever going to change. As John Micklethwait andÂ Adrian Wooldridge show us, that is a seriouslyÂ limited view of things. In fact, there have beenÂ three great revolutions in government in theÂ history of the modern world. The West has led theseÂ revolutions, but now we are in the midst of a fourthÂ revolution, and it is Western government that is inÂ danger of being left behind.

Now, things really are different. The Westâ€™s debtÂ load is unsustainable. The developing world hasÂ harvested the low-hanging fruits. IndustrializationÂ has transformed all the peasant economies it hadÂ left to transform, and the toxic side effects of rapidÂ developing world growth are adding to the bill.Â From Washington to Detroit, from Brasilia to NewÂ Delhi, there is a dual crisis of political legitimacy andÂ political effectiveness.

The Fourth Revolution crystallizes the scope of theÂ crisis and points forward to our future. The authorsÂ enjoy extraordinary access to influential figures andÂ forces the world over, and the book is a global tourÂ of the innovators in how power is to be wielded.Â The age of big government is over; the age of smartÂ government has begun. Many of the ideas theÂ authors discuss seem outlandish now, but the centerÂ of gravity is moving quickly.

This tour drives home a powerful argument:Â that countriesâ€™ success depends overwhelmingly onÂ their ability to reinvent the state. And that muchÂ of the Westâ€”and particularly the United Statesâ€”is failing badly in its task. China is making rapidÂ progress with government reform at the same timeÂ as America is falling badly behind. Washington isÂ gridlocked, and America is in danger of squanderingÂ its huge advantages from its powerful economyÂ because of failing government. And flailingÂ democracies like India look enviously at Chinaâ€™sÂ state-of-the-art airports and expanding universities.

The race to get government right is not just aÂ race of efficiency. It is a race to see which politicalÂ values will triumph in the twenty-first centuryâ€”the liberal values of democracy and liberty or theÂ authoritarian values of command and control. TheÂ stakes could not be higher.
Country USA
Manufacturer Penguin Books
Binding Kindle Edition
ReleaseDate 2014-05-15
Format Kindle eBook

Country	USA
Manufacturer	Penguin Books
Binding	Kindle Edition
ReleaseDate	2014-05-15
Format	Kindle eBook

The Fourth Revolution: The Global Race to Reinvent the State

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