ABSTRACT
This chapter establishes the main themes underpinning the research. It then turns to one of the principal themes of the project, arguing that the questioning of the machinery of government has enhanced the prominence of values in debate about governance. Values underpin questions that both citizens and governments pose about governance. The chapter then considers the different ways in which institutional change can be understood. Some of these are discussed, and the roles of values are considered in the context of analysing institutional change. One of the fears of contemporary analysts of government and society is that the growing diversity of citizens' beliefs and values is forcing governments to retreat from solving policy problems, because they are unable to successfully integrate that plurality of values into the ways the state works. The chapter sketches different ways in which the state can be involved in changing institutions. It also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.
