It would of course be premature to
announce the death of the state in the wake
of the emergence of these new forms of
governance. In fact, many of these networked
organisations are both set up by, and directly
or indirectly controlled by, the state and,
regardless of their origins, necessarily
articulate with the state. Hence, the political
power choreography in this hybrid
government/governance configuration is
multilayered, diffuse, decentred and, ultimately,
not very transparent. Yet, whether
we are considering EU levels of governance,
or the emergence of sub-national levels of
governance (social economy initiatives,
development corporations, local social movements),
these cannot operate outside, or independently
of, the state