People around the world are experiencing a growing disillusionment with state, government and public policies. A recent study of 47 Commonwealth countries argues that ‘many citizens are increasingly feeling remote and disconnected from the processes that affect their lives. They feel more and more disempowered by trends towards globalization, competition and individualism. In turn, the health of civil society, on which so much rests, suffers’ (Commonwealth Foundation 1999: 10). In a similar manner, a World Bank-sponsored report based on grassroots research in 23 countries concludes that ‘state institutions, whether represented by central ministries or local government are often neither responsive nor accountable to the poor… Not surprisingly, poor men and women lack confidence in the state institutions even though they still express their willingness to partner with them under fairer rules’ (Narayan et al. 2001: 172).

Perhaps this disillusionment is an intrinsic part of globalization. The power of nation states is being challenged by supra-national forces, by privatization and by decentralization. Late capitalism is characterized by free-floating financial exchanges and sophisticated technologies. The autonomy of the nation state is being eroded through forces of the market and the demands of emerging global cultures. In this regard there has emerged a strong belief, especially among neo-liberals, that the public good is better catered for by the mechanisms of a free market, rather than by governments. According to this dogma, states should confine themselves to providing a competitive and level playing field for political parties, investors and citizens. It is further believed that market competition has become the primary means of defining the value of a society, and notions of social justice and common good have been displaced by an apolitical view of a public sphere apparently accessible to all but in fact, mainly benefiting a few. Traditional bonds of kinship and family are also being eroded under pressures from work, consumerism and modernization.