War, Peace, and the Making of the State: A Theory of Social Order

Abstract

Two players in the modeled primitive society independently decide whether or not to arm and fight each other for distributive gains. Wealth and technology levels determine the balance of force and whether the society is in Rousseau’s Garden of Eden, the Hobbesian war, or an arms race. Wealth and technology levels also determine whether the state emerges by force with concentrated power and wealth, or by agreement with shared power and wealth. Under certain conditions, the players are better off having a predatory state than contesting each other. The theory has important empirical and policy implications.