Powers of Theory
Capitalism, the State, and Democracy
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Product details:
- Publisher Cambridge University Press
- Date of Publication 31 October 1985
- ISBN 9780521316354
- Binding Paperback
- No. of pages520 pages
- Size 229x154x36 mm
- Weight 830 g
- Language English 0
Categories
Short description:
An evaluation of different theories of the nature of the state in capitalist democracies.
MoreLong description:
Existing theories of the nature of the state in Western capitalist democracies have been mostly propounded from one of three major theoretical perspectives, each emphasising a particular aspect of the state: the 'pluralist', which emphasises its democratic aspect: the 'managerial', which emphasises its bureaucratic elements: and the 'class', which focuses on its capitalistic aspect. Each of these theoretical perspectives has contributed something to our understanding of the state, but each also has its limitations. In this book, Alford and Friedland evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of each perspective and present a new, synthetic framework for a more comprehensive theory of the state. Impartially reviewing the major historical and empirical works within each theoretical tradition, they reveal how empirical study has been shaped by theoretical assumptions. They agree that each perspective has a distinctive 'power' to understand part of the reality of the modern state, although it is powerless to explain other parts. In each case, the part that can be explained is the perspective's 'home domain', or the aspect of the state that it emphasises, while other aspects are either rejected or reinterpreted. The authors argue that the state cannot be adequately understood unless full account is taken of each of these home domains, and they suggest how the contributions of each perspective to the explanation of its own domain can be integrated into a new, and more powerful, theory.
'An ambitious and sophisticated work of integration that brings together all the most important literature on modern democratic capitalist states within a single, overall, highly illuminating argument.' Steven Lukes, Balliol College, Oxford
Table of Contents:
Preface; Acknowledgements; Introduction: State and society in theoretical perspective; 1. Theoretical perspectives as modes of inquiry; Part I. The Pluralist Perspective: 2. State and society in pluralist perspective; 3. The democratic state and consensus; 4. The democratic state and participation; 5. The pluralist perspective on the bureaucratic state; 6. The pluralist perspective on the capitalist state; Part II. The Managerial Perspective: 7. State and society in managerial perspective; 8. The bureaucratic state and centralisation; 9. The bureaucratic state and fragmentation; 10. The managerial perspective on the capitalist state; 11. The managerial perspective on the democratic state; Part III. The Class Perspective: 12. State and society in class perspective; 13. The capitalist state and accumulation; 14. The capitalist state and class struggle; 15. The class perspective on the democratic state; 16. The class perspective on the bureaucratic state; Part IV. Theory, Politics, and Contradictions in the State: 17. The powers of theory; 18. The power of politics; 19. The power of contradictions.
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