Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of tables
- Preface
- List of abbreviations
- 1 Governing France
- 2 Reforming the state
- 3 Decentralisation and local governance
- 4 Europeanisation
- 5 State capacity and public policy
- 6 State–society relations
- 7 Making sense of the state
- 8 Governing and governance in France
- Bibliography
- Index
Preface
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 04 June 2010
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of tables
- Preface
- List of abbreviations
- 1 Governing France
- 2 Reforming the state
- 3 Decentralisation and local governance
- 4 Europeanisation
- 5 State capacity and public policy
- 6 State–society relations
- 7 Making sense of the state
- 8 Governing and governance in France
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
As a leading European nation with a particular state tradition and historical legacy, France has long fascinated observers. The title of this book is Governing and Governance in France. Such a title presupposes that the study of single countries is a legitimate, indeed central dimension of the study of European politics. Some comparativists would contest this claim (Dogan and Pelassy 1990). There are a number of objections levelled against single-country studies. Claims made on the basis of studying a single country are unlikely to be very robust. Single-country studies amass considerable detail, but interpretation of detail is likely to be deficient in the absence of either a comparative perspective or a sound theory, because there is no empirical or theoretical basis on which to draw conclusions. The ‘unique’ or special character of a particular country can be demonstrated only through comparing one country with others, so as to establish whether it is a deviant case. There is a danger of false universalism, of the drawing of universal generalisations from the single-country case-study. There are also hazards involved with treating countries themselves as coherent units of analysis. Reasoning in terms of overarching political cultures, policy styles or state traditions can overplay state-wide systemic effects and underplay within-country variations between the contrasting dynamics of specific policy sectors and arenas.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Governing and Governance in France , pp. vii - ixPublisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2008