Francis Fukuyama revisits ‘end of history’ thesis in new book

Political scientist Francis Fukuyama has released a new book, ‘In the Realm of the Last Man’, which revisits his famous ‘end of history’ thesis. In his 1992 work, Fukuyama argued that liberal democracy and market economies represented the final stage of human ideological evolution.

In this new work, Fukuyama addresses the challenges to that optimism, including the rise of populism, the financial crisis, and the decay of democratic institutions. He explores the concept of the ‘last man’—a term borrowed from Alexandre Kojève—describing a person who, bored by the stability of liberal society, revolts against the established order.

Fukuyama also examines the concept of ‘vetocracy,’ a condition in many Western democracies where the power to veto prevents significant societal progress due to the influence of bureaucrats and lobbyists. He suggests that saving democracy requires a liberalism that can overcome bureaucratic stagnation.