The multi-level state: Canada in the semi-periphery of both continentalismand globalization

This article looks at an old subject (the state of the state) under new con ditions (accelerating globalization and fragmentation), using Canada as the case in point. My first concern is linguistic: such labels as 'post-Keynesian', 'post-welf are', and even 'post-national' tell us more about what the state may have b een than what it has become. These 'post-' categories do not capture the ex tent to which governmental functions have been redistributed - upward to in ternational institutions, downward to sub-national states, and laterally to the private sector. Nor do they direct our attention to the dynamic interc onnections that are linking evolving governmental forms with civil society. I go on to consider to what extent these difficulties can be resolved by co nsidering the 'state' as a nested, multi-tiered set of institutions providi ng governance on five levels - from the municipal and the regional, through the national to the continental and global. Political economy analysis of the dynamic that links these levels of governance with civil society and tr ansnational market forces may tell us better than the post-it labels that t he present capability of the Canadian, or any other, state is less bleak th an it may have seemed.