Finally,it is an image of politics and government which, although the heyday of ‘big government’ clearly seems to be gone for ever,suggests that some societal functions traditionally accorded government are just as important as they have always been and that, indeed, government remains the system lf institutions which is best geared to assume these responsibilities.These traditional roles refer to some of the core definitions of government such as law enforce-ment,some level of social security, national defence and so on. In addition to these basic roles of government, the public sector has also, historically speaking,played important roles with regard to economic development. National governments throughout the western world have been instrumental in the development of a capitalist economy by regulatimg markets, defining the basic rules of the game for private businesses, and developing trade rules and tariff systems which, from time to time, have protected the domestic industry from foregn competition (Polanye,1941;Shonfield, 1965).