In this important new text, Martin Smith reassesses traditional debates about power and how they understand the nature and impact of the state. He develops an analysis of the new forms of state power that have developed in response to the perceived challenges of globalization and governance.

MARTIN J. SMITH is Senior Lecturer in Politics at the University of Sheffield, UK.

Introduction
PART I: THEORIES OF STATE POWER
Understanding Power: Traditional Approaches
Understanding Power: Radical Approaches
States and Power
A Framework for Analysing State Power
PART II: MECHANISMS OF STATE POWER
The Development of the State from Modernity to Past-modernity
Legitimacy, Authority and Bureaucracy
Force and Terror
Rationality and Regulation
Surveillance
Risk
States and the Moral Order
The Limits of State Power
Conclusion.