This book deals with states in one particular corner of the world: Europe, here understood as the European Union. It examines how states have been reconfigured by five processes. First, the rise of globalization processes and international organizations mean states are increasingly influenced, constrained, measured, and rated by organizations, ideas, and norms over which they have no direct control. Second, the dilution of the classic Weberian state means that comparisons with the nominally ‘weak’ American state are pertinent to understanding new public–private relationships in policy. Third, ... More

This book deals with states in one particular corner of the world: Europe, here understood as the European Union. It examines how states have been reconfigured by five processes. First, the rise of globalization processes and international organizations mean states are increasingly influenced, constrained, measured, and rated by organizations, ideas, and norms over which they have no direct control. Second, the dilution of the classic Weberian state means that comparisons with the nominally ‘weak’ American state are pertinent to understanding new public–private relationships in policy. Third, the impact of unexpected policy crises—fiscal, security, and migration—have resulted in institutional reform and expansion of state policy instruments. Fourth, the changing scale—regional and urban—and rise of regulatory agencies is a major source of reconfiguration in European states. Fifth, the traditional monopoly on violence to protect citizens remains but is overstretched and states have developed new ways to control and monitor populations. The individual chapters cover such issues as how best to measure government performance; the role of the region in European states; planning for unknown futures; the rise of a European identity; conflicts about migration and assimilation; borders and their policing; measuring crises; the reconfiguration of economic policy under neoliberalism; state intervention and banks; sovereign debt crises; defence policy; the rise of populist politics across Europe; and Brexit.