ABSTRACT
Most contemporary observers of politics, governments and states suggest that the trend towards globalization spells the end of the nation-state. The rise of global markets puts new constraints on public governance - and especially on the power to tax - since capital, labour and firms become much more mobile in an open world market. The forces leading to the globalization of markets explain the atomisation of the 'industry of states', and the rise of many small, competitive states. Like firms, states are hierarchical institutions that produce services and use scarce resources. The predatory state, which is a producer and provider of a whole range of collective goods, has become the universal organizational structure amongst wealthy societies with relatively large populations. Military alliances can arise when the administrative dimension is smaller than the dimension of production of public goods and services.
