The state and public administration: have instruments of governance outrun governments? Introductory perspectives

Abstract

These introductory perspectives set the scene for this Special Issue and companion Special Issue in March 2016. Several questions are raised about states, institutions, instruments and the ecology of governance as a forerunner to analyses in subsequent articles. Particularly pertinent are questions concerning instrument use and control, with significant implications for state capacity, legitimacy and trust as multi-nodalism becomes an ever-expanding reality in modern governance.

Keywords:

• the state
• public administration
• instruments of governance
• ecology of governance
• state capacity, legitimacy and trust
• multi-nodalism