Theory Testing and a Question: Is State Formation a Product of Rational Choice or Symbolic Structure?

Abstract

In the opening chapters of this book, we critiqued prevailing theories of sociocultural evolution and proposed that an approachbased on the rational choice theory of collective action might lead to a productive rethinking of political evolution. Toexplore that possibility, we operationalized collective action theory in a manner that allows for theory testing using a methodof cross-cultural analysis, then we assembled the necessary data. Now we are prepared to evaluate collective action ideas.Beyond that important goal, in this and the final chapters we also pursue some additional lines of inquiry and analysis thatgo beyond the theory as it is presently stated. We hope these new directions will enrich the theory and point to new directionsfor future research.