Governing Complex Societies: Trajectories and Scenarios

by Jon Pierre, B. Peters

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.

164 pages, Hardcover

First published April 26, 2005

About the author

Research professor in the department of political science, University of Gothenburg and professor of public governance at the Melbourne School of Government, University of Melbourne.