One of the key issues in the analysis of the capitalist state is its relationship with democracy. To what extent can a capitalist state be democratised? Where and how do democratic institutions intervene in the management and control of capitalism? Has the emergence of democracy changed the composition of the state? These questions lead inevitably to the basic issue of the interconnections between economics and politics, economy and polity, with which this volume is concerned. This wide-ranging and eclectic collection, combining theoretical and empirical material, and containing contributions from several leading authorities on the modern state, will be of value for teachers and students of political science, sociology and political economy, as well as appealing to historians and philosophers interested in the nature of the state.