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Governance, the State, and the Market: What Is Going On?
Author(s) -
Sbragia Alberta M.
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
governance
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.46
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1468-0491
pISSN - 0952-1895
DOI - 10.1111/0952-1895.00132
Subject(s) - state (computer science) , corporate governance , balance (ability) , welfare state , function (biology) , resizing , power (physics) , business , state function , welfare , market economy , economic system , economics , political science , economic policy , finance , politics , law , algorithm , european union , quantum mechanics , evolutionary biology , computer science , physical medicine and rehabilitation , biology , thermodynamics , medicine , physics
Analyses of the ‘shrinking state’ tend to focus on the pressures being felt by the welfare state. The ‘state’ is viewed as a provider of social benefits and as redistributing wealth. To the extent these functions are being challenged the state is perceived as being ‘rolled back’ by the forces of the market. Yet the state is also involved in ‘building’ markets. This function, overshadowed in the past, has now become an important state activity. Such activity, however, is carried out by state actors different from those involved in the provision of social benefits and the evolution of the welfare state. Majoritarian institutions are largely responsible for the latter while non‐majoritarian institutions oversee theformer. Although the balance of power among different types of state actors has shifted, the power of public authority has not necessarily been ‘rolled back’ by the market.