This work provides an analysis of the creation of new state forms in the remaking of social welfare. The authors examine critically the political forces that enabled "more and better management" to be presented as a solution to the problems of the welfare state.

Examining the micro-politics within public service, the authors draw links between politics, policies and organizational power to presents an incisive and dynamic account of the restructuring of social welfare. Clarke and Newman expose the tensions and contradictions in the managerial state and trace the emergence of new dilemmas in the provision of public services.A cogent critique of the social, political and organizaitonal conflicts and instabilities that are embedded in new state forms, The Managerial State will be essential reading for students and academics in social policy, public policy and public management