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.