T h e distant origins of the present volume lie in an article entitled
"Th e End of History?" which I wrote for the journa l The National
Interest in the summe r of 1989. 1
In it, I argue d that a remarkabl e
consensus concerning the legitimacy of liberal democracy as a
system of governmen t ha d emerge d throughou t the world over
the past few years, as it conquered rival ideologies like hereditary
monarchy, fascism, an d most recently communism. Mor e than
that, however, I argued that liberal democracy may constitute the
"end point of mankind's ideological evolution" an d the "final form
of huma n government, " an d as such constituted the "end of history."
Tha t is, while earlier forms of governmen t were characterized
by grave defects an d irrationalities that led to their eventual
collapse, liberal democracy was arguably free from such fundamental
internal contradictions. This was not to say that today's
stable democracies, like the United States, France, or Switzerland,
were not without injustice or serious social problems. But these
problems were ones of incomplete implementation of the twin
principles of liberty an d equality on which moder n democracy is
founded, rathe r than of flaws in the principles themselves. While
some present-day countries might fail to achieve stable liberal
democracy, an d others might lapse back into other, mor e primitive
forms of rule like theocracy or military dictatorship, the ideal
of liberal democracy could not be improved on.