From Marketisation To Diplomacy: It's the Mix that Matters

In marked contrast to conventional Westminster models, this article proposes that a more useful explanatory framework is provided by the concept 'the differentiated polity'. This new perspective not only focusses on fragmentation, networks, hollowing-out and governance as alternative explanatory variables, but proposes that markedly different policy skills are required to manage 'differentiated polities'. These skills include: coping with complexity; negotiating interdependence; game-playing; reestablishing trust relations; and using diplomatic techniques of patience, perseverence and persuasion.