The modern state is hugely important in our everyday lives. It takes nearly half our income in taxes. It registers our births, marriages and deaths. It educates

A fascinating study of the modern state as a collection of associations and a tool that has to be given power by the people but musty follow checks and balances

The institutional features and the past and future role of the state should be a central concern of contemporary sociological and political theory, but until no

An intelligent, engaging, and in-depth reading of the nature of the state and the establishment of the modern political order in the mid-nineteenth century. Pre

This accessible introduction to comparative politics offers a fresh, state-centered perspective on the fundamentals of political science.