Managing the hollow state

Beginning in the mid-1970s and continuing through the 1980s and into the early 1990s governments in the industrialized democracies have brought about tremendous changes in their own State structures and in the relationship between the State and society. In the United States we refer to the “Reagan revolution,” but the changes have been no less profound in other countries, including those such as France and Sweden with very large and well-respected bureaucracies. While these changes in the nature of government are well-known and well-documented, their implications for the implementation and management of the public sector have not been explored adequately, especially in comparative context.⁽¹⁾ To the extent that the implications have been discussed it has been primarily in the context of the “new managerialism” but the changes really extend much more deeply into the process of governing and the manner in which the State relates to society.

This paper will be a step in the direction of more fully ramifying the nature of the changes using the phrase “the hollow state” to capture the changes that have occurred. The paper will attempt to look at what has been happening in government, as well as the implications for the future of the State, and for “statecraft” in contemporary democracies. That statecraft, by which the policy initiatives of government are linked to the lives of citizens, must continue to be a central element in the design of governments, but often has been ignored in the rush to reach fashionable political goals. If government is to continue to be a positive force in the future, then that craft must be fostered and mobilized rather than ignored with contempt.