Governing Complex Societies Trajectories and Scenarios [Hardcover]

Western societies are becoming increasingly complex and challenging to govern, yet the modern state continues to play a central role in governance. This book presents a detailed analysis of the challenges confronting the contemporary state and the processes through which the state addresses those challenges. The notion of 'governing without government' is critiqued; instead, Pierre and Peters argue that what is happening a more a matter of state transformation than state decline.Acknowledgements Understanding Governance: Institutional Capacity, Information and Steering Towards a Theory of Governance Governance: A Garbage Can Perspective Governance and Governability: Time, Space and Structure Multi-Level Governance: A Faustian Bargain? Subordination or Partnership?: Changing Institutional Relationships in Comparative Perspective Governance, Accountability and Democratic Legitimacy Conclusion: Governance and Political Power References

Choice Outstanding Academic Title 2006

JON PIERRE is Professor of Political Science at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, and Adjunct Professor at the University of Pittsburgh, USA. He previously held a Chair in Politics at the University of Strathclyde. He is author or editor of fifteen books are a large number of journal articles.

B. GUY PETERS is Maurice Falk Professor of American Government at the University of Pittsburgh, Research Fellow at the Institute of Public Management at the Catholic University of Leuven, and Senior Fellow of the Canadian Centre for Management Development. He is author or editor of over 50 books in comparative politics, public administration and public policy.