The evidence is plain to see: neither the State, nor the market alone are capable of building balanced societies that guarantee the values men and women need to live together. Globalisation is easing governments away from absolute sovereignty, making them actors among others of world governance. The different directions explored in the State and Development proposal booklet attempt to take into account a global vision of the action carried out by the State in interaction with every sphere of human life. Four directions for rethinking State action appear inevitable: the State as regulator, the State as actor in economic development, the State as redistributor of wealth, the State in relation with different levels of governance.
Proposal Paper 