`In my view, it is the best introduction available in English to contemporary academic discussions about the purpose and prospects of applying the comparative method to political science.... Cerny′s book is comprehensive in scope and accomplishes three quite rare tasks: it brings together material on North America, Western Europe and Japan... it combines theories of comparative politics and international relations; it pays equal attention to systems of party competition and of interest intermediation, although its primary focus is upon the state.... Philip Cerny has produced a tour de force, an intelligent, erudite and comprehensive text that cuts decisively through artificial barriers within the discipline′ - Political Science Quarterly`Philip Cerny has written a superb analysis of the changing conditions of statehood′ - Canadian Journal of Political Science

• Preface and IntroductionPART ONE: THE PRINCIPLES OF POLITICAL STRUCTURATION: STRUCTURE, AGENCY, AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE MODERN STATEPolitical Structuration and Political ScienceThe Elements of Political StructurePatterns of AgencyMarkets, Hierarchies and Political AllocationThe Modern State at the CrossroadsStructuring the Field of Political ActionPART TWO: CHANGING PATTERNS OF POLITICAL STRUCTURATION AND THE FUTURE OF THE STATEThe Limits of Political PowerPersonal Leadership and Party SystemsThe State and Interest IntermediationPatterns of Collaborative BehaviourThe Paradox of Civil SocietyDe-differentiation and Re-differentiation in the Contemporary StateTransnational Structures and the State ResponsesFrom the Welfare State to the Competition StateEpiloguePolitical Structuration and Political Ideas in the 21st Century

`In my view, it is the best introduction available in English to contemporary academic discussions about the purpose and prospects of applying the comparative method to political science.... Cerny′s book is comprehensive in scope and accomplishes three quite rare tasks: it brings together material on North America, Western Europe and Japan... it combines theories of comparative politics and international relations; it pays equal attention to systems of party competition and of interest intermediation, although its primary focus is upon the state.... Philip Cerny has produced a tour de force, an intelligent, erudite and comprehensive text that cuts decisively through artificial barriers within the discipline′ - Political Science Quarterly`Philip Cerny has written a superb analysis of the changing conditions of statehood′ - Canadian Journal of Political Science

• Preface and IntroductionPART ONE: THE PRINCIPLES OF POLITICAL STRUCTURATION: STRUCTURE, AGENCY, AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE MODERN STATEPolitical Structuration and Political ScienceThe Elements of Political StructurePatterns of AgencyMarkets, Hierarchies and Political AllocationThe Modern State at the CrossroadsStructuring the Field of Political ActionPART TWO: CHANGING PATTERNS OF POLITICAL STRUCTURATION AND THE FUTURE OF THE STATEThe Limits of Political PowerPersonal Leadership and Party SystemsThe State and Interest IntermediationPatterns of Collaborative BehaviourThe Paradox of Civil SocietyDe-differentiation and Re-differentiation in the Contemporary StateTransnational Structures and the State ResponsesFrom the Welfare State to the Competition StateEpiloguePolitical Structuration and Political Ideas in the 21st Century