In an age when areas such as health, education, and the environment are becoming
more and more dependent on the state, the state demonstrates again and again
that it is not able to cope. State Failure is about this failure to states in
both the East and the West to make urgent economic and political decision. The
problem, Janicke argues, begins in the political sphere where politicians, who
are elected to make decisions, become merely the legitimators of their
government departments.
The roots of the problem lie deeply embedded in the industrial structure, a
structure that has passed its innovative phase and relies increasingly on public
resources. Examining