Key economic and politico-institutional elements of modern interventionism : a synopsis

Abstract

This paper discusses important economic and politico-institutional features of the 'desirable' modern state intervention.

It is recognised that the public sectors of most countries have undergone major changes since the 1980s, as governments try to respond to the challenges of the new millennium. Recent years have seen wider-ranging reforms than any other period of the twentieth century, although both the pace and extent of these reforms are greater in some countries than in others. This represents a paradigm shift from the 'traditional' model of public administration, dominant for most of the century, to 'new' public management.

The first section of the paper discusses the 'era of change' while considering the changing role of government. The second examines an institutional system which appears to have been used with enormous success -the 'Developmental State': the case of state which takes on a central developmental role in the economy without directly owning most of the productive assets. The final sections pursue aspects of the 'Developmental State' model and deal with 'key'-elements of the 'desirable' modern state and its new role.