schools, grocery stores, factories, farms, and nation-states, has lasted for only an
eyeblink of time when compared to our entire evolutionary history" (Cosmides and
Tooby 1997). These recent environmental changes could not have affected our basic
preferences and behavior because evolution requires a very long time to shape these
traits.
It is necessary to understand these historical conditions in order to appreciate
transitions to democracy in the 20
th
century or earlier. Saying that small egalitarian
societies were the optimal and natural form of social structure under which human
beings evolved does not suggest that it is the only type of social structure human
beings can live under. On the other hand, saying that human beings can live under an
array of structural environments does not imply that all institutional arrangements are
just as good or apt for human beings to live under. The fact that in some
circumstances human beings can adapt to living under totalitarian regimes, does not in
any way mean that despotic social structures are as good as egalitarian social
structures. Human evolution does not abruptly end with the beginning of the Neolithic
era. Indeed, we know that in many cases human beings succeeded in maintaining their
egalitarian structures into and far beyond the Neolithic period, and leveling-down
mechanisms have not disappeared in tribal societies either.
Most probably, egalitarian structures remain more suitable to humans today
just as they predominantly have been until 10,000 years ago. The overall historical
pattern towards more egalitarian political institutions and practices is consistent with
our evolutionary history. The existence of small egalitarian forager societies in many
continents is a further reminder of the aptness and persistence of this social structure
to human life despite the pressures of modern environments. States and nations were
not part of the Paleolithic era; nevertheless, democratic states are far more compatible
with ancient egalitarian societies than with despotic or nondemocratic regimes.
12
Convention