The Evolution of Political Ideology : A Natural and Civil History / by Steven Charles Hertler, Aurelio José Figueredo, Mateo Peñaherrera-Aguirre.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Hertler, Steven Charles.

Contributor:

Figueredo, Aurelio José.

Peñaherrera-Aguirre, Mateo.

Series:

Behavioral Science and Psychology Series

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Evolutionary psychology.

Political psychology.

Human evolution.

Anthropology.

Evolution (Biology).

Political science.

Civilization--History.

Civilization.

Evolutionary Psychology.

Political Psychology.

Evolutionary Anthropology.

Evolutionary Biology.

Political Science.

Cultural History.

Local Subjects:

Evolutionary Psychology.

Political Psychology.

Evolutionary Anthropology.

Evolutionary Biology.

Political Science.

Cultural History.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (599 pages)

Edition:

1st ed. 2025.

Place of Publication:

Cham : Springer Nature Switzerland : Imprint: Palgrave Macmillan, 2025.

Summary:

This book applies multilevel selection theory to an examination of both the natural history of ideology, and how that natural history has unfolded through the course of civil history in the Western world. Its authors bring together research from across the fields of history, political science, genetics, neurobiology and social science to offer an unprecedented synthesis. Addressing natural history, Part I evolutionarily explains why political ideology is substantially genetic, correlates with personality traits, and is represented in brain regions associated with risk and emotional processing. Addressing civil history, Part II traces the evolution of political ideology across anthropological transitions from non-human primates to small-scale societies, and across historical transitions from autocratic states through to democratic societies with political parties peaceably transferring power and tolerating opposition. In this way, its authors aim to demonstrate that temperamental antecedents to political ideology that are biologically derived, evolutionarily explicable, and historically palpable. This book presents timely insights into issues the evolutionary history of hyper-partisanship that will be of interest to scholars across the fields of political science, political psychology, evolutionary psychology and history. Steven Charles Hertler is a licensed examining psychologist and Adjunct Professor of Psychology at the College of Saint Elizabeth, USA. Aurelio José Figueredo is Professor of Psychology, Family Studies and Human Development at the University of Arizona, USA. Dr. Figueredo also serves as Director of the Ethology and Evolutionary Psychology (EEP) Laboratory. Mateo Peñaherrera-Aguirre currently serves as a research associate in the School of Animal and Comparative-Sciences Research at the University of Arizona, USA. His lines of scientific research include the evolution of lethal coalitional aggression in human and nonhuman animals, socioecological correlates of sociopolitical complexity, and multilevel selection.

Contents:

Part I: A Natural History of Ideology

Section I: An Introduction & Organizing TheoryIntroduction

1 The Relation of Political Science to the Theory of Multilevel SelectionSection II: Proximate Causation

2 The Genetics of Political Ideology

3 The Neuroscience of Political Ideology

4 Childhood Adversity, Life History, and Political Engagement

5 Political Ideology as a Function of Personality and Individual Differences

Integrative Metacommentary: Section II. Proximate Causation

Section III: Ultimate Causation

6 The Macroevolution of Sociopolitical Behavior and Within Group Conflict in Nonhuman Primates

7 Evolutionary-Ecological Dynamics of Sociopolitical Complexity

8 Faction and Party in the Modern Constitutional Republic: The Politically Relevant Dynamics of Multilevel Selection

Integrative Metacommentary: Section III. Ultimate Causation

Part II: A Civil History of Ideology: Historical Expressions of Biological Dispositions

Section IV: Cycles of Integration and Disintegration in Multilevel Sociopolitical Coalitions

9 As Far as Our Spears can Reach: Asabiyyah and the Dulotic Progression in Sparta (740 BC-190 BC)

10 Latin and Turco-Saracen Conflict during the High Middle-Ages

11 The Inquisitions

Integrative Metacommentary: Section IV. Cycles of Integration and Disintegration in Multilevel Sociopolitical Coalitions

Section V: The Formation of Faction12 Early English Reactions to Organized Opposition

13 Liberalism and Conservatism in Late Modern Britain

14 Political Polarization among Anglo-Americans in the Throes of the French Revolution

Integrative Metacommentary: Section V. The Formation of Faction

Section VI: The Maturation and Institutionalization of Faction

15 Party Machines in the United States of America

16 Political Realignments & Third Party Movements in the United States of America

17 Progressive & Nationalistic Populism

Integrative Metacommentary: Section VI. The Maturation and Institutionalization of Faction

Section VII: The End of Tolerated Opposition

18 From Ritualized Political Conflict to Revolutionary Violence

19 Polarization and Revolution as a Function of the Lifecycle of the State

20 The Precarious Balance Derived from Dynamic TensionIntegrative Metacommentary: Section VI. The End of Tolerated Opposition

Epilogue.

ISBN:

3-031-83941-2

9783031839412