'A comprehensive, multidisciplinary examination of the concepts embodied in governance and their wide-ranging applications and implications. An important read and reference for students and academics in the social sciences, particularly those engaged in public policy studies' - Professor Carolyn J. Heinrich, University of Wisconsin-Madison

'An authoritative short survey for which students and teachers alike will be profoundly grateful' - Professor Rod Rhodes, University of Tasmania and Australian National University

'Students of governance will welcome this book given the explosion of literature in the field. It provides a quick guide to key concepts and ideas but does so with considerable originality. We are offered not just a review of well-established positions but a distinctive take on the governance debate' - Gerry Stoker, Professor of Governance, University of Southampton

The language of governance has risen to prominence in the last 20 years as a way of describing and explaining changes in the nature and role of the state, but the concepts involved can be confusing as they are often new and come from diverse disciplinary and theoretical settings.

Key Concepts in Governance provides a clear introduction to the technical concepts and policies of contemporary governance through short definitional essays. Each entry features:

" a snapshot definition of the concept

" a contextualization of the concept

" an overview of relevant debates

" a guide to further reading.

The book also includes a substantial introductory chapter which gives an overview of governance studies as a whole, orientating and guiding the reader around the issues that the concepts address.

Highly readable, with clear cross-referencing, this is an ideal book for students on introductory courses and an indispensable resource for anyone interested in governance.

Professor Mark Bevir is a member of the Department of Political Science at University of California, Berkeley. He was born in London and educated at the University of Exeter, U.K., where he got a BA (1st Class), and the University of Oxford, UK where he was awarded a DPhil. Before moving to Berkeley, he worked at the University of Madras, India, and University of Newcastle, UK. He has held visiting positions in Australia, Finland, France, U.K., and the U.S. Currently he is co-convener of the Interpretive Political Science specialist group of the Political Studies Association and President of the Society for the Philosophy of History.

I. What is Governance?
II. The Concepts
Accountability
Bureaucracy
Capacity
Center-local relations
Collaborative governance
Collective action problem
Communitarianism
Co-ordination
Corporatism
Decentralization
Dialogic policy-making
Differentiated polity
Enabling state
Environmental governance
Evidence-based policy
Global governance
Globalization
Good governance
Governance Indicators
Hierarchy
Implementation
Incrementalism
Institutionalism
Interdependence
Local governance
Managing networks
Market
Marketization
Metagovernance
Multi-level governance
Network
New public management
Participatory democracy
Pluralism
Policy cycle
Policy network
Public-private partnerships
Rational choice theory
Regionalism
Regulation
Regulation theory
Representative democracy
Rule of law
Social capital
Social constructivism
Social inclusion
Sovereignty
State
Systems theory
Transnationalism