The Changing Role of the State in Development

Several questions underlie the issue of the role of the state: what is the state? what does it do? how does it do it? The history of the first three quarters of the twentieth century can be seen as one where states held clear authority within their borders, acquired growing functions and tended to perform them on their own. The latter part of the twentieth century and early twenty-first century see a more porous view of the nation state, fewer directly performed functions and more partnership with other actors.