Re-thinking the state: critical perspectives on the citizen, politics and government in the 21st century

Society is growing increasingly complex in the 21st century, as the result of various evolutions like globalisation, multiculturalism, individualisation and multi-level governance. Debates that deal with issues such as ‘more state’ or ‘less state’ no longer suffice. Instead, the debate should address the question of ‘which type of state’ we need. Scholars of different disciplines have tried to formulate an answer to this challenging question. In this book, five important questions about the organisation and functioning of the state are dealt with. Firstly, what is the future of political parties, and what do accountability and representation mean in a post-party world? Secondly, how must the interaction between the state and society be organised, in a renewed interpretation of subsidiarity and civic responsibility, and what does increasing societal diversity really mean for the traditional bureaucratic state organisation? Thirdly, what could the architecture of a state organised on different layers look like in a multi-governance setting, and what can we learn from the experience of the Belgian multi-layered state model? Fourthly, how can the roles of cities as new spaces for community, in a context of decentralisation, be managed? Can the cities perhaps save the state? Finally, how can the roles of politicians and public officials within the state machinery be arranged, in a context in which civil servants act as players in networks with trustees, politicians, other levels of government and private organisations? This book is ultimately about shifting boundaries: between citizens and politicians, between society and the state, between the layers of the state itself and between politicians and civil servants. These shifts urge the reformulation of issues like representation, responsibility, accountability and loyalty. The multidisciplinary character of the book shows that the future ‘state of the state’ concerns everyone.