_The purpose of this chapter is to explain why human beings have come together into a society, to point out some of the chief influences which affect their action in organized groups, and to show that government is the greatest of the agencies through which human co-operative action is maintained today._ [Sidenote: The supremacy of man.] =Man’s Place on the Earth.=—The present organization of society finds its explanation in the nature of man. Man is by nature a social being; he possesses intelligence and the capacity to organize. Among living creatures man is by no means the first in physical power—he is neither so strong as the lion nor so fleet as the reindeer. But he dominates the earth because he more than makes up, by his mental and moral superiority, for whatever may be lacking in physical prowess. We do not know when mankind first began to assert its mastery over all other forms of life on the earth, but it was a very long time ago. Man’s superior intelligence gave him a start, and his capacity for organization enabled him to clinch the victory. Today he is supreme on land, at sea, and in the air. [Sidenote: Evolution.] =The Principle of Development.=—Human society did not come into existence all at once; it has grown to its present form through the slow process of time. Everywhere we see the principle of development at work—among individuals and among institutions. Everything is still in a continual process of change and this has unquestionably been the case for many thousands of years. Or to put it in another way, new forms of life and institutions are continually being evolved from older forms. [Sidenote: Darwin and his work.] To understand this principle of continual change and development it is necessary to know something about the doctrine of evolution. This doctrine is commonly associated with the name of Charles Darwin, for although many others had hinted at the idea, he was the first to set it forth accompanied by scientific evidence.[2] Darwin’s theory has been much misunderstood; in the illiterate mind it is often summed up by saying that “Man is descended from the monkey”. But Darwin did not say anything of the kind, neither did he ever deny the existence of God as the controlling factor in the life of the universe. Darwin’s theory of evolution asserted that all forms of life now on earth have sprung from a few simple, primitive types, and that human life is an evolution from one of these earlier forms. Human institutions, likewise, did not arise instantaneously but developed from simple and primitive beginnings into their complex structure of today. [Sidenote: Soundness of Darwin’s theory.]