The Nation-State in Question

Well written and well organized, this book reflects sound scholarship. I applaud the initiative of the editors to assemble such an eclectic collection that will be highly useful for those wishing to cross disciplinary boundaries. Moreover, the essays tend to avoid the disciplinary jargon that often limits a readership to a narrow academic audience. -- Bruce Cronin, University of Wisconsin, author of "Community Under Anarchy" Each of the chapters is soundly written and the volume as a whole brings together some outstanding, well recognized scholars to undertake an ambitious, wide-ranging enterprise. -- Hendrik Spruyt, Arizona State University, author of "The Sovereign State and Its Competitors"

Reassesses state-society relations and state power at the dawn of the twenty-first century. This book also assesses the extent to which international social forces affect states, and the capacity of states to adapt in specific issue areas.Has globalization forever undermined the state as the mighty guarantor of public welfare and security? In the 1990s, the prevailing and even hopeful view was that it had. The euphoria did not last long. Today the "return of the state" is increasingly being discussed as a desirable reality. This book is the first to bring together a group of prominent scholars from comparative politics, international relations, and sociology to systematically reassess--through a historical lens that moves beyond the standard focus on the West--state-society relations and state power at the dawn of the twenty-first century. The contributors examine the sources and forms of state power in light of a range of welfare and security needs in order to tell us what states can do today. They assess the extent to which international social forces affect states, and the capacity of states to adapt in specific issue areas. Their striking conclusion is that states have continued to be pivotal in diverse areas such as nationalism, national security, multiculturalism, taxation, and industrial relations. Offering rich insights on the changing contours of state power, The Nation-State in Question will be of interest to social scientists, students, and policymakers alike. John Hall's introduction is followed by chapters by Peter Baldwin, John Campbell, Francesco Duina, Grzegorz Ekiert, Jeffrey Herbst, Christopher Hood, Anatoly Khazanov, Brendan O'Leary, T. V. Paul, Bernard Yack, Rudra Sil, and Minxin Pei. The conclusion is by John Ikenberry.