The Summary Cause for the
Stability or Downfall of Human Societies

Contents

Foreword

Preface to the Political Works

CHAPTER 1.	The first political criterion
CHAPTER 2.	The universality and logical necessity of the first criterion
CHAPTER 3.	The first political criterion is confirmed by history — The period of the founders of societies — The period of the legislators
CHAPTER 4.	Continuation: the first political criterion applied to the two fundamental laws governing civil society: the law governing ownership and the law governing marriage
CHAPTER 5.	How respect for antiquity and love of useful innovations must be regulated
CHAPTER 6.	The meaning of the rule: `a society must often return to its beginning’ if it is to survive.
CHAPTER 7.	Our criterion applied to the four stages
CHAPTER 8.	*Societies are judged according to practical* and speculative reason. — Application of the political criterion to the practical reason of the masses**
CHAPTER 9.	Continuation: an explanation of conquests
CHAPTER 10.	*Application of the political criterion to the speculative reason* of influential individuals**
CHAPTER 11.	*Relationships in public affairs between the action of speculative reason* in individuals, and the contemporaneous action of practical reason in the masses**
CHAPTER 12.	Substance and accident in social life: the struggle between two summary forces: the single aim of politics
CHAPTER 13.	*Elements of the two summary forces* which move society: the practical problems of political science**
CHAPTER 14.	Three exclusive and therefore defective political systems: true political theory takes account of all elements
CHAPTER 15.	The one formula to which every political problem is reduced: the necessity of statistics, and the ruling principle for their compilation
CHAPTER 16.	The substantial form of society changes position; the law governing this change
CHAPTER 17.	Conclusion