Having started out as a new and alternative way of thinking about policy making and governing more broadly, governance is now established as a dominant paradigm in understanding national, subnational and global politics.
The long-awaited second edition of this textbook takes into account the significant growth and proliferation of the field in recent years and offers a state of the art introduction to how governance is being theorised and studied today.
Written by two leading political scientists, Governance, Politics and the State considers how societies are being, and can be, steered in a complex world where states must increasingly interact with and influence other actors and institutions to achieve results. It is a valuable book for all students of governance.
New to this Edition:
- A fully updated and revised set of chapters, including four new chapters - on multilevel governance, global governance, metagovernance and populism and governance.
- A postscript on how to study governance

Jon Pierre is Professor of Political Science at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden.

Contents:
Introduction: What is Governance?
1. Different Ways to Think About Governance
2. Conceptual and Theoretical Perspectives on Governance
3. The Transformation of Governance
4. Governance Beyond the State
5. Multi-level Governance
6. Metagovernance
7. Populism and Participatory Modes of Governance
8. State Strength and Governing Capacity
9. Governance Past, Present and Future
Postscript: How do We Study Governance?