Understanding the managerial state: a few theoretical tools

This article offers theoretical tools to the analysis of the state and contemporary public policies, with special attention to educational policies. Utilizing mainly the contribution of John Clarke and Janet Newman and adding the concepts used by Michael Apple and Stephen Ball, this article offer theoretical lenses to theexamination of the managerial nature of the contemporary state. Through the dispersal of power, the blurring of the borders between public and private and assessment policies that control the action of public institutions, the managerial state fi ghts the Welfare State and creates the conditions to public policies that reshape the relationship between civil society and the state. The article ends with some implications to the study of educational policies, emphasizing the fact that the managerial logic does not transfer, unmediated, to all state actions.