Why have continental European societies developed the idea of the abstract impersonal state as the fundamental institution of political rule? Why, on the other

The beginnings of the state in Europe is a central topic of contemporary historical research. The making of such early modern Italian regional states as Florenc

Politics and Society in Western Europe is a comprehensive introduction for students of West European politics and of comparative politics. This new edition has

Arguing that states emerged in Western Europe as powerful political-geographical centres rather than nation-states or national states, Samuel Clark examines and

Focusing exclusively on the functional rather than the territorial level, this book reveals that the reshaping of the state in western Europe involves different