State Failure

In an age when areas such as health, education, and the environment are becoming more and more dependent on the state, the state demonstrates again and again that it is not able to cope. State Failure is about this failure to states in both the East and the West to make urgent economic and political decision. The problem, Jänicke argues, begins in the political sphere where politicians, who are elected to make decisions, become merely the legitimators of their government departments.

The roots of the problem lie deeply embedded in the industrial structure, a structure that has passed its innovative phase and relies increasingly on public resources. Examining the failure of states in both Eastern and Western Europe, Jänicke concludes that we face a future of either stagnation or stark deindustrialization unless political means are found to solve the problems—from environmental destruction to unemployment— that now face us all.

“State Failure is provocative, well-argued, and likely to make a big impact on debates in the areas of theories of the state, comparative political economy, innovation, alternative politics, and environmental policy. At a time when Americans are realizing that simply deregulating everything may produce a large amount of dysfunction, State Failure offers a welcome corrective to the lack of discourse in this area.”—Christopher S. Allen, University of Georgia

“This is one of the most innovative and provocative contributions to West German state theory and has major theoretical and politico-strategic implications for political reform movements everywhere. Its easy style, wealth of illustration, and hard-headed analysis make it obligatory reading.”—Bob Jessop, University of Essex

Martin Jänicke is Professor of Comparative Political Science at the Free University, Berlin.

Political Science

           Comparative Politics