The Elusive State: International and Comparative Perspectives

by James A. Caporaso

In The Elusive State the idea of the state serves as an umbrella concept, as a way of focusing otherwise disparate subject matters. The literature on comparative and international politics are as far apart as ever, despite the purported breakdown of the traditional dividing lines between domestic and international politics (a view which some of the papers in this volume explicitly reject). Some of the topics included for discussion are the contradictory ways in which the state is viewed (omnicompetent or impotent), states most likely to develop the institutions and political culture of police states, and the historical perspective of sovereignty.

288 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 1989

About the author

James A. Caporaso (Ph.D. University of Pennsylvania) is professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Washington. He is a specialist in international political economy and international relations theory. He is a past president of the International Studies Association (1997-98) and past Chair of the European Union Studies Association (1995-97). In 2003 he received an award for Distinguished International Political Economy Scholar from the International Studies Association. He has published articles in International Studies Quarterly, International Organization, American Political Science Review, Journal of European Public Policy and several other journals. He edited Comparative Political Studies until 2013. He is coauthor with David Levine of Theories of Political Economy. His current research is on political institutions and the financial crisis in comparative perspective. Caporaso enjoys teaching graduate and undergraduate courses in international relations and international political economy and mentoring graduate students.