A Different Kind Of State

The organization of the public sphere has become the central political problem of the 1990s. Neither the centralized bureaucracies of Eastern Europe nor the liberal/pluralist states of the West have been able to cope as their citizens demand more public services and greater democratic accountability. Increased competitiveness within a free market cannot satisfy these needs; if anything, it generates more victims dependent on government help. This book introduces the possibilities for democratic administration - reforming the system of government so as to enhance public participation, improve the design of programmes and the delivery of services, and to ensure a better working environment within the public sector.

This book addresses major theoretical issues in the fields of public administration and comparative politics. It discusses the role which ideology played as a unifying force for at least parts of the German state bureaucracy in Wilhelmine Germany . The examination of a modernizing ideology in the German case is useful for an understanding of the political dynamics of state-led modernization and industrial strategy in many contemporary societies and the author explains political behaviour and relations in Germany in general terms that are universally relevant.

Can a distinct national foreign policy still be identified for small EU member states, and what accounts for the balance between national and EU foreign policy? Henrik Larsen develops an analytical framework for analyzing these questions and offers solutions through an empirical examination of the foreign policy of a small EU member state in the context of EU foreign policy - the case of Denmark. The book looks at seven policy areas: policy towards other EU member states, anti-terrorism, development, the Balkans, Africa, Latin America and trade. On the basis of the empirical study, the implications for the theoretical study of national foreign policy in an EU Context are outlined. It is suggested that we need a new, mixed approach to foreign policy analysis within the EU taking into account the nature of the policy area concerned and national conceptions of actorness.

Robert Nozicka s Anarchy, State, and Utopia is a powerful, philosophical challenge to the most widely held political and social positions of our age ---- liberal, socialist and conservative.

Award-winning economist Mariana Mazzucato’s famously incisive international bestseller debunking the pervasive myth of the inept state versus an innovative private sector—with a new preface by the author According to conventional wisdom, innovation is best left to the bold entrepreneurs of the private sector, and government should get out of the way. But what if that wasn't case? What if, from the inventions of Silicon Valley to medical breakthroughs, the public sector has actually been the most courageous and valuable risk-taker of all? Critically acclaimed and influential thinker and scholar Mariana Mazzucato argues comprehensively against the myth of a lumbering, bureaucratic state versus a dynamic, innovative private sector with remarkable original and deep research. In a series of case studies—from nanotechnology to the emerging green tech of today—Mazzucato reveals that the opposite is true: the private sector only finds the courage to invest after an entrepreneurial state has made the high-risk investments. The Entrepreneurial State reveals how every technology that makes the iPhone so “smart” was actually funded by the government—from the Internet and GPS technology, to touch-screen displays and voice-activated Siri. In the history of modern capitalism, the State has not only fixed market failures, but has also actively shaped and created markets. In doing so, it sometimes wins and sometimes fails. Yet by not admitting the State’s role in active risk taking, we've created an "innovation system" where the public sector socializes risks while privatizing reward, as Mazzucato controversially argues. This bold and provocative book considers how we adopted this dysfunctional dynamic, and then how we can overcome it so that economic growth can be not only "smart" but "inclusive" as well.

In the wake of socialism’s demise and liberalism’s loss of direction, new ideas are needed for the next major realignment of the social and political domain. Making a unique contribution to the idea of ‘the commons’, this book offers a radical form of direct democracy with real-world implications. But whereas much of the current scholarship has looked at the commons from the perspective of governance, this book instead focuses on ‘commoning’ as social practice. Perspectives on Commoning argues that the commons are not just resources external to us, but are a function or characterisation of what we do. Thus, we can talk of the act of commoning, positioning our behaviour beyond the domains of the private and the public, beyond the dichotomy of capitalism versus socialism. Covering everything from biopolitics to urban spaces, this impressive range of international contributors address the commons as both theory and history, providing a useful review of current conceptions as well as practical proposals for the future. A unique consolidation of philosophy, sociology and economics, the book shows how a new understanding of the commons as practice will help to achieve its full emancipatory potential.