Research
Topics
Cliodynamics, structural-demographic theory, social complexity, cultural evolution, and related fields.
Cliodynamics
The interdisciplinary study of long-term historical change using explicit theory, quantitative evidence, and mathematical or computational models.
Social Complexity
The growth, organization, integration, and fragility of large-scale human societies and their political institutions.
Cooperation and Collective Action
The institutions, norms, and evolutionary processes that support cooperation and coordinated action at increasing social scales.
Structural-Demographic Theory
A theory of recurrent political instability centered on popular immiseration, elite overproduction, and weakening state capacity.
Political Instability
Long-term pressures associated with political violence, revolution, state breakdown, and periods of social disintegration.
Elite Dynamics and Inequality
The relationship between inequality, elite numbers and competition, wealth concentration, and changes in political stability.
Historical Databases and Quantitative History
The construction and analysis of comparative historical datasets used to evaluate explanations of long-term social change.
Cultural Evolution
The evolution of cultural practices, institutions, religions, and forms of social organization across human history.
State Formation and Empires
The formation, expansion, integration, contraction, and collapse of states and empires over long historical periods.
War and Conflict
Warfare, frontiers, invasion, and organized conflict as forces in political development and long-term historical change.