State Theory and State History

The focus of this book is on change in the state, in particular the importance of specific developments in social and political institutions and their relation to the overall concept of the state as the formal centre of a social network. In this context, the book brings together the historical roots of state formation in general with the significance of the state as a concept in relation to other concepts of social wholes, such as community or society.

The historical perspective offers an analysis of change over time in key institutions, such as democracy, governmental systems, social policy, the capitalist economy. The discussion encompasses considerable stretches of the twentieth century or earlier, on the supposition that many important changes cannot be detected in shorter time frames.