This study offers a rethinking of the state-civil society distinction through the idea of political administration. This is achieved through a reading of Hegel's philosophy of right and a critique of Foucault's account of power and administration.

To preserve social order the state must administer civil society, with a threefold purpose: the fashioning of the market, the constitution of legal subjectivity and the subsumption of struggle. This study offers a rethinking of the state-civil society distinction through the idea of political administration. This is achieved through a reading of Hegel's philosophy of right and a critique of Foucault's account of power and administration. The outcome is a provocative theory of state power.

Preface - State Power, Social Power - From Imperialism to Ideology - Foucault and the End of Politics - The Normality of the English: Rethinking State and Class in Britain - Political Administration in Britain: The Fashioning of the Market, the Constitution of Legal Subjects and the Subsumption of Struggle - Notes - List of Works Cited - Index