M290X: Comparative Perspective on States, Markets and Civil Society
Quarter: Winter 2019Instructor: Helmut Anheier Helmut Anheier
Governance is about solving and managing societal problems. Climate change, poverty, migration, security, mobility, pollution, or trade relations are cases in point. Sometimes, such problems and their proposed solutions are handled in consensual ways, yet there are also instances where problems and solutions are highly contested. Contemporary governance is a complex set of laws, rules and regulations involving the rights and responsibilities of the three institutional complexes of modern societies (the state, the market, and civil society), the interests that guide them, and the legitimacy and the resources they command. Actors often reach across systemic, jurisdictional and national boundaries; their relationships can be cooperative, neutral or fraught with conflict, and governance outcomes can vary significantly. These dynamics involve fundamental challenges and, consequently, require significant governance readiness. The course is a mix of lecture, debate, in-class exercises, and student presentations; we will move between conceptual and empirical levels, and explore several issues in more detail (e.g., types of state capacities, democracy, crisis management, governance innovation, and specific policy fields such as infrastructure or global finance). 4 credits, lecture.
