The First Political Order is a groundbreaking demonstration that the persistent and systematic subordination of women underlies all other institutions, with wide-ranging implications for global security and development. It offers a new paradigm for understanding insecurity, instability, autocracy, and violence.

AcknowledgmentsIntroductionPart I: The First Political Order1. The First Political Order Is the Sexual Political Order2. The Oldest Security Provision Mechanism3. Assessing the Patrilineal/Fraternal Syndrome TodayPart II: The Effects of the First Political Order4. The Effects of the Syndrome, Part One: Governance and National Security5. The Tremors Caused by Obstructed Marriage Markets: A Closer Look6. The Effects of the Syndrome, Part Two: Human, Economic, and Environmental Security7. The Effects by the Numbers: The Syndrome and Measures of National OutcomesPart III: Change8. Change: Historical Successes and Failures9. Conclusion: Contemporary ApplicationsAppendix I: Syndrome Scores for 176 Countries Appendix II: Colonial Heritage Status Scores Appendix III: Testing the Effects: Methods and Extended ResultsAppendix IV: Dichotomization Cutpoints for Logistic Regression AnalysisAppendix V: High-Syndrome-Encoding Nations with Unexpectedly Good National OutcomesNotesBibliographyIndex