Planning, then, is on the march as governments define their objectives on the basis of the triple bottom line and the new threats posed by global warming and terrorism. In working to achieve these objectives a renewed emphasis on the role of the state, increased co-ordination across government and partnerships with the community have become part and parcel of public management.

The belief that public concerns could be contracted out or left to the market for resolution by way of ‘the cunning of reason’ has experienced a significant defeat at the hands of democratic logic and the needs produced by contemporary history. Governments are simply not in a position to deflect responsibility when it comes to matters of life and death and matters about which the public wants real rather than rhetorical solutions.

There are, of course, different versions of strategic government depending upon the political colours of the parties involved. For conservatives, planning with respect to the new terrorism is given priority. For centre-left governments, planning to cover the field of economic, social and environmental concerns is given equal weight. For left-liberals, the planning involved in countering terrorism is seen as counter-productive and authoritarian beyond the limits of acceptability. It is the case, however, that all have moved beyond the era of New Public Management. The State is no longer being hollowed out. It is being given a new sense of purpose and a new content with the wider planning, co-ordinating and facilitating roles being developed.

It is not, however, like the State of old. At the very heart of the politics of Strategic Government is a recognition of complexity, the inevitable clash of values, and the importance of civil society. There is an understanding that not all knowledge lies within government and that engaging the public is not an optional extra but an essential ingredient of good government.

The overarching theme is one of government alongside the community working with it to solve problems. This means more collaboration between levels of government, within governments themselves and between governments and their communities. An enormous range of relationships are formed, within which there are complicated patterns of accountability.