By the early 1980s increasing international trade and investment; growing
economic, social, and political interaction across national borders; and rapidly
emerging technological innovations that increased the scope and reduced the
costs of communications and transportation and helped spread knowledge and
information worldwide, changed perceptions of governance and of the appropriate
functions of the state. The concept of governance expanded to include not
only government but also other societal institutions, including the private sector
and civil associations. Debates shifted from the proper allocation of responsibilities
within government to how strongly the state should intervene in economic
activities, whether central governments inhibited or promoted economic growth
and social development, and the appropriate roles of government, the private
sector, and civil society