Most importantly, however, we argue that in order to be able to understand the full nature of governance and its effects on the full nature of governance and its effects on the established structures and processes power and control in society, we must depart from the state of affairs before these challenges emerged. We have already discussed the dangers in dismissing the state as the source of political authority and financial resources. Understanding the causes and consequences of governance requires some kind of ‘benchmark’ against which these changes can be assessed. The most obvious ‘benchmark’ in such an analysis is the world as it was prior to prior to the emergence of the contemporary interest in governance.