Power Begets

Reviews the book, Despotism and Differential Reproduction: A Darwinian View of History by Laura L. Betzig (see record 1986-97061-000). Betzig has produced an interesting, well-written, scholarly monograph that sets forth the allegedly Darwinian hypothesis that power is exploited to the end of reproduction and, inter alia, that this hypothesis also explains why absolute power corrupts absolutely. Despotism, formally defined as extreme bias in conflict resolution is related to polygyny, measured by maximum harem size in the society. Betzig's interpretation of Darwin follows much of contemporary sociobiology, which seems to me to be a genetics-enhanced revival of social Darwinism. Betzig is puzzled by the fact that modern society seems to have escaped the despotism and polygyny predicted by her interpretation of Darwin, and she speculates on why the prediction is wrong. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved)