Governance has become one of the most commonly utilized terms in political science, and to some extent also in the other social sciences. Although the term “governance” is now commonly used, this concept is often misunderstood and is used in a variety of different, and sometimes even contradictory, ways. This book is intended to advance the study of governance and to enhance the utility of the concept in understanding politics, in general, and comparative politics, more specifically. In order to make those contributions, we are emphasizing three central features in this book.

The first, and perhaps most basic, contribution of this book is that governance is conceptualized as a powerful foundation for studying comparative politics. That emphasis is indicated in the title of the book and permeates the discussions in each chapter. While there are numerous interesting aspects of politics in all our countries, all these can be understood in terms of the basic need to govern. Elections and other aspects of individual-level behavior are interesting and perhaps even amusing at times, but they are relevant only because they contribute to governance. By having a clear conception of what constitutes governing, that comparison becomes more meaningful and more directed toward the fundamental characteristics of politics and government.

The second major contribution of this book on governance is to develop a functionalist model of governing. Functionalism has not been a popular approach to the social sciences for several decades, but still has an important place in analysis. Just as functionalist approaches served as a foundation for understanding political development, so too is it an appropriate means of elaborating governance. We have chosen to develop the functionalist model presented here for several reasons. The most important reason is to be able to overcome some of the academic squabbling about the relative roles of the state and social actors in governing. If we begin with an agnostic position and use a set of functions to elaborate governance, we can answer questions in a more empirical manner. Further, the functionalist approach allows us to identify more readily the interaction among social actors and the state, emphasizing the manner in which these potential sources of governance interact. Finally, the functionalist approach to governance helps to identify processes as well as actors involved in governance.