"The term "governance" has become one of the most widely used in debates in political science, public policy and international relations - often to mean very different things. Written by two leading political scientists, Governance, Politics and the State is the first systematic introduction to its nature, meaning, and significance.".

"The capacity of governments to manage their economy and society is threatened, on the one hand, by the dispersion of powers to international markets and institutions and, on the other, by subnational actors and institutions. Politics today involves much broader networks of governance than in the past.".

"The authors argue, however, that the steering of societies from the center by the state remains crucially important for several reasons. First, the loss of control by government is often exaggerated, and there is still a substantial capacity for the public sector to shape social and economic life. Second, taking the centralized conception of "steering" as a starting-point for analysis provides a standard against which to judge any loss of governance capacity by national states.

Finally, if there is any loss of that capacity to govern by the public sector it appears to be occurring at different rates and in different ways in different countries."--BOOK JACKET.